One Day at a Time
by Themista
Summary: The story takes place about four months after the events of the The Avengers movie. Thor and Loki return to Earth to make amends and try to rehabilitate Loki, calling on Tony Stark. Mischief, intrigue and sexual tension ensues. One chapter one day. Mature content (later). All aboard the S.S. FrostIron.
1. I Do Not Like the Thunder Guy

1: I Do Not Like the Thunder Guy

Dense lines of cars continued on along the open streets, dotted with yellow taxis. People go to work, they go home, earphones in their ears letting them live in their own little bubbles. People jog in the park, they go out for dinner, they buy groceries. Life goes on. Humans are a remarkably adaptable bunch; and four months after Loki the Norse God and his uninvited alien lizard guests had torn up New York, the ruins, the new state of affairs in the city had become the new reality for the people who lived there.

But for some people, Tony Stark among them, things were a little different. The damage to New York was still massive. He and Pepper had plans for the restoration of Stark Tower, but for billionaire Tony Stark to be re-tiling the granite floor of his penthouse apartment while thousands of New Yorkers had lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones – well, that was not exactly great for PR. Their grand plans had been postponed in favour of temporary stop-gaps. The only letter on the side of the tower was _A_.

Tony, as Iron Man, had spent that day, like so many others, helping his fellow man. There was still debris to be cleared, heavy objects to be transported. As Iron Man, Tony could do the work of a hundred men, though he felt as if he had been doing the work of at least two hundred – and still, it wasn't enough. Nothing had been the same since the battle of New York. All Tony wanted to do was get out of the city, go back to his house in Malibu – but then even more people would hate him than already did. His great shining tower had become his prison.

So, that evening, Tony Stark stood alone in his apartment, drinking a glass of scotch. His eyes were idly surveying the darkened skyline, its lights twinkling through the haze of the steady drizzle that was falling. He stood next to the powerful telescope through which he could look out at the universe, a universe which had quite suddenly become far bigger and far more terrifying, but on that night no stars were visible above, no moonlight, nothing but the artificial lights of mankind.

The city was shell-shocked, the first month after the alien attack, as a sort of financial inertia carried New York City and its people forwards through time. It was clear, however, that this was utterly untenable and the beginning of a slow collapse. The insurance companies of individuals and corporations weren't paying out, meaning that many companies with unusable offices were in deepening financial struggle – and some of those who had been in trouble before had already folded. This led to a proliferation of unemployment and resulting poverty; it was only a matter of time before people started to default on their rents and mortgages. There was little the government could do about this.

The value of the damage done ran into billions, many times larger than Stark's entire fortune. And then along came a god damn _hurricane_. Most parts of New York were back to normal, but in lower Manhattan, Staten Island and a few other places, it was like something out of a disaster movie. The work seemed endless. The demands seemed endless. Whatever Tony did, it was never enough, there was always more.

While people suffered, the legal argument over whom should help them and how lumbered on. The insurers argued that if they paid out for everyone harmed by the Chitauri incursion, they would all go out of business: the losses were just too great. Besides, they generally did not cover against _acts of God_, and, well, _Loki was an actual God_ –

There was a loud rumble of thunder above. Tony narrowed his eyes. Funny, that that should happen just as he was thinking about Loki, who had been taken back to Asgard by Thor. He felt uneasy about the thunder, for reasons he was not sure of. It felt wrong to him, somehow. There was a bright flash of lightning outside the windows, temporarily obscuring the view of anything beyond, quickly followed by another loud clap of thunder. And that was when the alarms started going off.

Tony felt oddly calm. Somehow, he had expected that to happen, though he could not say why. "Sir," Jarvis addressed him, "I am getting some very irregular readings from the roof of the building."

"I know, Jarvis," Tony said. He tried to sound casual, but it came out as world-weary, fatigued. He span the last of the drink around the bottom of the glass and downed it. "Better suit up."

Tony donned his iron man suit and within seconds was on top of the building, and lo and behold, standing there were Thor and Loki. Loki was in the chains and muzzle that he had been taken away in, and Thor was holding Loki's arm tightly in one hand, his beloved hammer in the other. Both of them looked much the same as he remembered, though in both cases their hair had got a little longer. Didn't they have hairdressers up in Asgard?Tony raised his helmet, and immediately regretted it. It was bitterly cold on the top of the building; winter was coming, and of course at that height the wind was extraordinarily vicious and biting. "Well if it isn't Cain and Abel. What brings you here?"

If anyone else were speaking, it would be a struggle to be heard over the wind, but Thor's booming voice was entirely audible. "My friend, is there somewhere we can speak?"

Tony nodded, keeping his Iron Man suit on just in case, and beckoned them to follow him down the service stairs into the building. The two gods followed in armour and their long capes, one red, one green. What was it with these people and _capes_?

"Do you mind?" Tony said casually, "You're trailing water all over my floor. You're making the place look untidy." In truth, the place was not the least bit tidy. Tony was working on modifying his suits, and every surface in the apartment was littered with scraps, circuits and sketches. If Pepper were here, she would not let the place fall into quite such chaos. Loki glared at Tony for his remark with a silent, seething fury, and Tony realised that the prisoner looked pale, drawn, and ill – scratch that, he looked like _hell_. Tony had no idea what four months of punishment Asgard style involved, and looking at Loki, he didn't think he really wanted to.

Thor requested a secure location in which to keep Loki, at least temporarily. Jarvis interjected, "Sir, may I remind you that Loki is listed as a wanted war criminal by the United Nations. Harbouring him would be a criminal offence for which you be liable to be sentenced to –"

"Duly noted, your honour." Tony responded, silencing Jarvis, leading the way for Thor.

Thor remained where he was. "Who was that?" He asked. "And where is he?"

Loki rolled his eyes. Tony explained the computer to Thor, and then took them down to some apartments reserved for highly important guests, with had no shortage of security measures. Thor led Loki into one of the bedrooms, and commanded him to stay in there, Tony watching curiously all the while.

"Uh, if he did what you said all the time, that whole Tesseract incident would have been wrapped up a lot quicker."

Thor released Loki from his muzzle, and his chains, though Loki did not choose to say anything. Thor backed out of the room, and reassured Tony, "Do not worry. Our father–"

"Your father," Loki interrupted, his voice hoarse and thin.

"Odin All-father, King of Asgard," Thor went on, "has him under an enchantment. He is bound to obey all of my commands."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "An _enchantment_, well, that sounds like a solid plan. If that works then did you guys not think of this earlier?"

Thor looked uncomfortable, and Loki maintained his resolute, resentful silence. Thor explained, "It is no easy feat; it takes much power. And to put an Asgardian under the full, direct control of another is... distasteful."

"Distasteful?" Tony enquired. "And what do you call running amok with an army of alien lizard people killing hundreds of people? A bit of a _faux pas_?"

Thor crossed his arms. "We all know the horror of what Loki is done. But he is my brother, and he is of Asgard–"

"And I _am_ still here." Loki interrupted, the venom clear in his voice at being spoken about as if he was not present.

Thor closed the door, and Tony eyed it sceptically. "Jarvis, if Loki does anything in that room, I want you to tell me, okay."

"Yes, sir," the computer responded. "He is currently pacing."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Just the important stuff, like if he makes any kind of effort to get out."

"Understood."

He and Thor moved to the living room of the open-plan apartment, beautifully decorated in a luxurious, modern style, all black, white, and glass – and all entirely unlived in. Tony offered Thor a drink, to which he replied, "Do you have coffee?" Tony raised his eyebrows and set to making coffee for his friend, the Norse god.

"So, this is a turn up for the books," he said, handing Thor a mug. "I'm gonna need an explanation for this magic and light show."

Thor leant back on the black leather sofa, and over the course of about half an hour they established the details of Loki's situation. Odin had decided that the best thing to do, in an attempt to rehabilitate Loki, would be to send him back to Earth to repair the damage he had done.

Tony sighed. "Look, that's a lovely thought and all, but I don't think you entirely understand the situation. No one here is going to take kindly to the very man who ruined their lives turning up again to fix things with _magic_. People fear things they don't understand, and they definitely fear things that they don't understand and actually tried to kill and enslave them. Anywhere he goes, there will be a violent mob just desperate to tear him apart if they got the chance. And, as you may remember Jarvis saying earlier, if I keep him here, I am liable to go to jail. All things considered," he concluded, "I think you should probably take him home."

Thor thought about this for a long time. "No," he said earnestly, "this is important for him. He can be of great help to your people."

Tony scoffed. "They're not my people. Believe me, they're anything but right now, which is odd, considering I already saved all their lives from a damn nuke." He stopped, trying not to lose himself to bitterness. "Why didn't you come sooner?"

"We did not want to interfere with your politics," Thor told him.

Tony was silent for a moment before he realised what Thor was even talking about. "What does the election have to do with anything? No one's going to vote for Loki..."

"We have but a little understanding of your procedures," Thor admitted. "All we knew was that we did not wish to interfere, so we waited until it was over."

"You _waited_," Tony repeated. "People have been _dying_ down here; there's been no power, no clean water, in New York City..." he took a deep breath.

"We have not been blind to your plight," Thor said, reassuringly. "Many in Asgard say we should have no more to do with Midgard, but the All-father insisted."

"Why here?" Tony asked. "Why me?"

"This seemed like the most secure location," Thor told him. "I hope you do not mind."

"No, it's cool," Tony replied, absently. "Hosting Norse gods – I should be _honoured_. I'll talk to Pepper. I'll ask her to get the public relations ball rolling on this, I'll see what I can do."

He left Thor, and stood outside the guest apartment in the vacant, spacious hallway. He stared at his phone for a long time. It was nearly 10pm, and Pepper would not appreciate being called at this hour. At least, not by him, not anymore. Finally, he called her, and explained the entire situation. The story they decided on was that Tony had received a message that Thor and Loki would be arriving the following day. Certainly, saying they were already on Earth would not be advisable. But of course, this information could not be released until Tony had called SHIELD. He knew how those guys could get when he kept things from them.

All of this done, it was only a few minutes before a helicopter carrying a small group of anonymous SHIELD agents arrived, led by Agent Maria Hill, demanding to see Loki, and guard him. When the door to his room was opened once more, he appeared in equal measure amused and annoyed at being studied, like a caged animal in a zoo.

"We have a big problem here," Agent Hill said.

"Oh, do we?" Tony replied, blithely. "Everything seems like sunshine and rainbows to me."

"Loki is wanted for war crimes. We can't let people know that he's staying here. Can you," she addressed Thor, "maybe help out during the day, and take him back to Asgard at night?"

"No." Loki interrupted, and smirked at the way everyone reacted to him; instantly tense, on-guard, _scared_. "Oh, are you only talking _about_ me, not _to_ me?" He asked, bitterly. "We cannot go to and from Asgard that easily; the Bifrost is still broken, since Thor destroyed it. We will have to remain here."

Maria looked uncomfortable. "The press will tear us apart. No one wants to know that Loki is in New York again, they'll be scared he might escape –"

"He cannot escape," Thor assured her.

"Still," Maria went on, "There's going to be a lot of panic in case he does, people know about his tricks."

An idea suddenly occurred to Tony. "A trick," he said quickly, "that's exactly what we do." Thor looked nonplussed, so Tony went on, "The people out there, they don't know that you can't leave Earth. So tomorrow we need to prove it to them that you can; summon a little lightning, whatever."

Thor frowned. "What you saw tonight was a discharge of electricity; it is not by lightning that we travel to Asgard now–"

"But no one else _knows_ that," Tony said, sounding more snappy exasperated than he intended.

Loki spoke again. "It's called _lying_, Odinson." He smirked.

"It does not shame me to admit that I am not as accustomed to lying as you, brother." Loki dropped his eyes to the floor.

Thus they agreed that this was what they would do each evening; pretend to return Loki to Asgard and just hope that people believed it. Time seemed to drag interminably as SHIELD demanded their official statement of him, one from Thor, and even one from Loki. Agents made plans and decided on guard positions in the hallways outside the apartment, the floor above, and the floor below.

Tony returned to his own apartment much later, struck be the contrast: how silent and empty it was. How alone he was.

"Jarvis," Tony spoke to, at present, his only companion.

"Yes, sir?"

"Set up a tracking algorithm for all things Loki on the internet."

"_All_ things, sir?"

Tony smirked. Loki, like all high-profile psychopaths, had his share of fans online. "Give priority to real news. It's not that I suddenly care what people think, but I need to know what the hell is going on out there."

"Indeed," Jarvis replied. "You have missed a few things, sir. Apparently, even Asgard had better coverage than this apartment of the election this November."

"Is it November?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm." Tony had been rather losing track of time. It had flown past him, largely irrelevant to him and his daily grind: get up, attempt to put New York back together, drink heavily, go to bed, repeat.

Routine dulled everything. It withheld from him time that he may use to think, to reflect, to dwell on the chaos and carnage of the battleground of New York city four months ago. But it also dulled Tony's creativity, his initiative, his sense of fun, even his ability to relate to anyone and anything else around him. When Pepper had advised Tony to take things _one day at a time_, running himself into the ground day after day and pushing everyone out of his life had probably _not_ been what she meant.

At least the company of a couple of Norse gods and a media fire storm would make for a change of pace.


	2. It Takes Style to Become Public Enemy 1

**2: It Takes Style to Become Public Enemy Number One**

There was a press conference at 7am the next morning. Tony Stark had hardly slept, but he hardly _ever_ slept anymore. He drank copious amounts of (Irish) coffee, just to get himself going, make it tolerable, and went out there, standing before the almost rabid journalists clamouring with questions.

For once, Tony read the prepared statement, as it was written. This explained in some detail the pack of lies that he was putting out: Thor and Loki would only be in New York during the day, they would go home at night, Thor had full control over Loki and there was no chance that Loki could escape.

There _was_ a chance, of course. And Tony thought that it was probably a pretty big chance, no matter what Thor said. The last time Loki had been in captivity, the reason had been that it was part of his plan all along, and Tony had a worrying feeling that this too was somehow part of Loki's plan, despite his protestations about it. Everything always seemed to be part of Loki's plan.

At the end of the statement, the room swelled and swirled with noise, as the journalists fought to ask him questions. "Mr Stark will not be taking questions!" cried one of his public relations executives, trying to usher him off the stage. But he could hear several questions being put forward that he could answer, and would probably go some way to alleviate fear and anger.

Tony Stark called for silence, and gradually the noise died down. He gestured to a woman in the front row, whose question he had almost already heard, inviting her to speak.

"Yes, Mr Stark," the reporter spoke, her voice shaking badly from barely contained rage, "can you give me one good reason why this war criminal should not be arrested to stand trial for war crimes?"

A hubbub of noise went up in the room, and Tony had to wait for it to subside before he could answer. "I can do better than that," he answered. I can give you three good reasons."

Another rise in the volume, another wait for its reduction. "Number one, no jail will hold him. We're dealing with a creature who can transmute matter and generate energy from thin air. To put him in jail would be _beyond_ pointless.

"Number two, if he was found guilty, which he obviously would be, what would we do with him? A life in jail, even if we could _build one to put him in_, would cost billions of dollars. I don't know how long these people live, but it's thousands of years. They were around at the time of the Vikings, so they'll be around a thousand years from now. And we couldn't kill him. The UN, the International Criminal Court, whatever it's called, can't hand down a death sentence – and, I mean, it is, literally, _impossible_ for us to do." _Probably_.

"Number three, to conclude, he can _only_ be dealt with by his own people. Separating him from them achieves nothing, and would only lead to his escape, and then, god knows what. I think we can all agree that that can't be allowed."

The room fell into noise again, the crowd of journalists shouting out questions. Tony was there for longer than he wanted to be, answering them all in as much detail as possible, but of course keeping from them that the Norse gods were already on Earth and currently residing in Stark Tower. He was relieved to get away from them and head back to the top of the tower to rejoin Thor and Loki.

* * *

On the agenda for the day was a major office block in the centre of the city. One of those – things – the enormous alien living ships – had flipped over and landed flat across the top of it during the battle. And it was dead, of course, so the practical problems of its decomposition, were, well, as substantial as they were _disgusting_. It had taken most of a month to be cleared away, and Tony thought to himself that Loki and his magic could have come in useful _then_. Still, better late than never.

Tony looked sceptically at the brothers as they prepared to leave. "I don't think you should dress like that," he said to Loki. Loki apparently did not consider this worthy of a verbal response, raising one eyebrow, very slightly. Tony explained, "You're dressed almost exactly as you were when you were razing this city to the ground. People will find it scary. Wear something else."

"You cannot order me what to wear," Loki shot back. He was looking a little healthier than he had been the day before, and seemed to have plenty of energy available for being snarky and annoying.

Tony sighed. "Fine, it's not an order, reindeer games. But I recommend it in the strongest possible terms."

Loki rolled his eyes, and with a glow of golden light, transformed his clothing into a suit like that which he had worn in Stuttgart: a black one, cut perfectly to fit his body, over a white shirt, a black waistcoat and a black tie. Over this he wore a long black coat, coming down to his knees, and around his neck he had a scarf: interlinking black and grey patches with the occasional patch of green. "Better," Tony nodded, raising his eyebrows. He had never seen Loki in person like this before, and had to admit that there was a rakish charm about him. "See, it's not so bad."

Loki nodded. "Indeed. I do like Midgardian clothing; there's so little to it." He looked directly at Tony in his jeans and t-shirt, "I could tear yours right off you."

In the stunned silence that followed, Thor widened his eyes and slowly turned to look, aghast, at his brother.

Tony laughed and replied, "Loki, please, only when we're alone," earning a crooked smile from the god. Tony added, curiously, "What happened to your other clothes?"

Loki resentfully offered an explanation. "I do not have _other_ clothes. I have a finite amount of matter from which my clothes are made, and I can alter the appearance of it however I please."

Tony was sceptical. "And, what, you're telling me you can do that with you mind, with _magic_?"

Loki knitted his brows. "Well, yes."

Tony shook his head. "Sorry, I don't believe in magic. We'll save the discussion of how you really do it for another time." Loki tipped his head to the side slightly, apparently mystified by Tony's reaction.

Tony donned his Iron Man suit and they went out onto the balcony, where Tony pointed out to Thor where they were going. The destination was secret to everyone other than them and SHIELD, who by this point would have secured the building and would be expecting them.

Tony lowered the face mask of his suit, and Thor held Loki against him as he began to swing his hammer, which Loki appeared decidedly annoyed about. Tony took off, still taking some pleasure in the fact that he could fly (that just never got old), and they arrived at building in less than a minute.

Landing with thuds on the roof, they were immediately met by SHIELD agents, led by Agent Hill. She gave them a quick briefing about what they would be doing, not that Tony liked getting bossed around, but hey, they were probably short on time here, and he wasn't an ass. Well, not usually.

There were no cranes around, since the alien ship had been taken, but there were still portions of the twisted metal frame of the building and tons of rubble which needed to be taken down to street level and then taken away. Just no one to pay for it to be done. SHIELD even had an open top truck waiting. Whatever Tony thought about them most of the time, he had to admit, these people had their shit together.

The three of them; Tony, Thor and Loki, each took up girder from the steel frame of the building to move it away. To Tony's surprise, Loki was easily able to pick up the girder, which weighed several tons, despite his slight frame. When he looked over at Iron Man, Tony gestured to the girder he was holding. "Nice. But mine's bigger than yours."

Loki grinned. "Let's not go there."

Tony was relieved that he was wearing his face mask, so his former adversary would not see the smile that remark had brought to his face, and they got on with the work of clearing rubble as quickly as possible.

Loki was photographed, much to his chagrin, while he was being helpful. There were a couple of people there from Stark Industries public relations, trying to construct a narrative in which Loki's presence was beneficial to New York. People would go crazy over these pictures, though not all for the same reason.

There were plenty of people on the internet sharing pictures and video clips, mainly grainy video footage from Stuttgart, going on about how gorgeous they thought Loki was, how much they liked his voice, how they would let him subjugate them, they would kneel before him – _if you know what I mean_. That would only get worse, after today. Tony needed to try and prevent Loki finding out about that stuff; it would make his ego even bigger than Tony's own. And there was not space in Stark Tower for two egos of that scale.

For the most part though, reaction to Loki was overwhelmingly negative. Thanks to the internet an angry mob of people soon congregated around the building, as if they could hound Loki out, or trap him, apparently forgetting that the three of them could _fly_.

Police and SHIELD agents struggled to hold them back from the building, and ground floor windows were smashed by people trying to get in; a mob out for blood. Tony felt exasperated for the most part: didn't people realise that there would be nothing they could possibly do to Loki, even if they did get him? But these were not rational actions, these were actions of fear.

Tony's eye was caught by a couple of black ravens perched nearby when the three of them were assembled by Agent Hill, but he was quickly distracted as they were given the message that it was time to leave. They departed to another area on the other side of the city where they worked to repair damaged power lines, with success, but within a few hours, they ran into the same trouble there, and had to make a tactical retreat to Stark Tower.

It had got dark by this point, which made it a little easier to stage the departure of Thor and Loki back to Asgard.

Tony had a terrible headache by the time all of this was done and he got out of his Iron Man suit and back into his apartment, Thor and Loki following. "Stay," he said, really only talking to Thor.

Thor smiled and made himself at home, leading Loki about the place by the arm while Tony made himself a drink. "You two want anything?" He called over.

"Ale!" Thor replied.

Loki smiled a little. "Whatever you're having," he said amiably.

Tony smiled to himself as he poured a couple of glasses of scotch, reminded of the time when the Avengers had cornered Loki in this very apartment after the Hulk had smashed him. Loki had lost everything – the Tesseract, the fight for Earth, and all he had said was, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Tony hadn't quite been able to keep the smile from his face then, either. Loki even knew how lose with style.

The Asgardians took their drinks, and Thor glanced round the otherwise empty apartment. "Tony," he asked slowly, "what happened to our friends?"

"The Avengers?" Tony tried to ignore Loki's sneer at their mention as Thor nodded. "Well..." Tony took a deep breath. "Bruce has gone to ground," he said wistfully. "We couldn't have done it without him, but people are still pretty scared of him – not of him, but the other guy, the Hulk. Steve Rogers went on kind of a road trip. He's got some unfinished business, going to look up people he knew during the war, the ones that are still alive, anyway. Natasha, your guess is as good as mine. Barton's still around, working for SHIELD. But he's pretty busy too."

Thor nodded and smiled. "Well, now you have us as your allies."

"_Us_?" Tony repeated questioningly, glancing at Loki. Loki smiled with obviously sarcastic friendliness. Tony laughed and led them over to sit down, being careful not to turn his back on Loki at any point. He flicked on the TV news, which ran with _Panic on the streets of NYC_. He shrugged. "So, I'd say that went pretty well."

The news featured some high ranking official or other, giving her opinion on Iron Man and the Asgardians. "...A press release from Stark Industries claims that the aliens go all the way home each night, but how can we possibly know that? How can we trust Stark, how could we trust any one individual, with this amount of power? To whom is he accountable? What checks and balances are there? We're talking about an impulsive alcoholic playboy here; he's not elected, he's not, he's not– I'm sorry, I thought this was America. We have _due process_ here. Loki committed crimes on American soil, and every second he is here again we have a legal right – a legal _duty_ to arrest him! Why should he be above the law? Why should Stark be above the Police? Why–"

"Mute." Tony Stark took a gulp of his drink, and watched the official continue talking silently. Her eyes flicked around nervously, she was clearly agitated. People were terrified of Loki. They were terrified of everything that had happened in the past few months – supervillains, superheroes – it _was_ all kind of insane.

Loki took a sip of his drink calmly. "I could go on trial."

"Brother, do not talk nonsense," Thor said.

"I am serious," Loki went on. "Let them put me on trial, if that will satisfy them."

"Sure," Tony interjected, seeing straight through Loki's apparent humility. "So you get to sit in a nice comfortable jail cell in Holland care of the United Nations, instead of whatever crazy crap they do in Asgard, instead of fixing up New York. You'd be there for years, because that's how war crimes trials always are. Most people die before they get sentenced, though that wouldn't be true of you. It would cost millions. And then what? Knowing you, they would sentence you to life in prison, and you'd just laugh and walk straight the fuck out of there."

Loki smiled. "That was the plan."

"I like the punchline, but it's a slow build up for modern audiences. Don't quit your day job."

Loki laughed a little. "I live thousands of years, Stark, spending a few of them on executing one joke seems as fine a way to spend them as any."

Tony laughed in spite of himself. Meanwhile, Thor was looking between them as if they were both insane. He spoke to Loki briefly, and convinced him to retire to his room without Thor having to order him. Once he was there, of course, Thor ordered him to stay in there, and closed the door.

He narrowed his eyes at Tony. "You and my brother, you share a certain sense of humour."

Tony shrugged. "He's pretty sharp."

Thor shifted uncomfortably. "You may be surprised by how charming Loki can be, when it suits him. He is known as silver tongue for his ability to talk people into doing things that they would not otherwise do."

"Hey," Tony grinned, "no need to worry about me on that. I'm more than a match for Loki."

"I hope so, my friend."


	3. Jackals and Avalanches

**3: Jackals and Avalanches**

The next morning, Tony received his report from Jarvis about how the media was mostly furious about Loki's presence, and even that of Thor's. They were somehow equally angry that Thor had come to Earth again, as if he had the right to show up whenever he wanted, _and_ that he had not come sooner, to somehow save them from the weather. It was impossible to win with these people.

Tony turned on the TV to see yet more people ranting and raving about him, and Loki, and Thor. Tony liked being the centre of attention, and he _had_ liked being famous, but this was something else. People had taken to protesting outside Stark Tower, picketing the entrance, claiming that any Stark Industries employees who crossed the line were collaborators in harbouring a fugitive. Tony already knew all about that. Jarvis had woken him at 6am to tell him of the encampment, so Tony had given practically everyone the day off. Those few who had to come in could get in through ways other than the main entrance. Tony was just relieved that it was Friday. Stark Industries was a strong company, but practically shutting down the tower was not good for business.

Miss Potts, CEO, had called at 6:10 in search of an explanation as to why he had not run this past her before doing it. Tony had explained that he didn't feel he had any choice, and it descended into an argument for no real reason. There had been a time, of course, when she would have woken up next to him, and they could have talked about it together. But that had been painfully short-lived. Those times may return, but Tony couldn't see it, in his present frame of mind, and he tried to avoid thinking about it.

He drank a strong cup of coffee and headed down to the secure apartment holding Thor and Loki. The apartment was guarded on the outside by SHIELD agents, but inside, the place was vacant.

Tony crossed the living area and towards Loki's room, the door of which was open. Tony peered in to see Loki sat by the window, and of all the things to see the God of Mischief doing, he was sat there using a laptop. He was also very much dressed down, in black pants and a dark green sweater. Somehow, this picture unnerved Tony more than most of the other things he had ever seen Loki do. With all of Loki's armour and regalia it was easy to see him as the other-worldly, menacing orchestrator of a hostile alien incursion. But dressed like that, sat in a chair, his eyes flicking over a computer screen, he looked human, docile, just like anyone else.

Loki ignored his host, completely, so Tony didn't bother to be polite. "What are you doing?" he asked, abruptly. Tony didn't know what Loki might be able to accomplish with a computer, and he didn't want to find out.

"Reading the news," he responded, casually.

"Oh, and what is the news?"

He smirked. "I am."

"Where did you even _get_ that computer?"

"I convinced a SHIELD agent to get it for me."

"How?" Tony looked at him, disbelieving, to which Loki only smirked again.

Tony entered the room and moved closer, standing behind the chair. Loki wasn't reading news, but blog posts about himself, complete with pictures and fawning compliments. "Jeez. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're a total narcissist."

Loki laughed slightly, before stating simply, "You should not have come in here."

A chill ran down Tony's spine, but he tried not to show it. "Why? You going to flip out on me?"

Loki finally removed his attention from the screen, and looked up at him. "I am not allowed to leave the room. Inside the room, I can do whatever I please. I could kill you," he concluded, casually, and with a wave of his hand, the door slammed shut behind Tony.

Tony cracked a smile. "Okay, Iago, you're powerful and intense. I get it. I'll leave you alone."

"No." Loki closed the computer, put it down, and stood. "Unless you get food sent to me."

Tony frowned. "Food? That's all you want? And you'd kill me if you didn't get it? That seems a little... disproportionate."

"I am not as fragile as you mortals, but I do require sustenance."

"Hang on," Tony frowned. "Have you eaten anything since you got here?"

"No," Loki replied, flatly.

"Have you drank anything?"

He gestured vaguely to the bathroom. "Water."

Tony nodded. "Is this part of your punishment?"

Loki made direct eye contact with him and replied, "No."

They studied each other in silence for a moment. Loki definitely looked thinner than the last time Tony had seen him. It seemed probable that he had not been eating much, and Tony idly wondered how long a god would have to be starved for before dying. Of course, Tony knew that Loki could be lying, and Loki knew that Tony knew that. "Hold up. I'll ask Thor."

"No," Loki growled. He stood up straighter, and his domineering presence seemed to fill more and more of the room.

"You're a real fan of that word," Tony replied, amiably. Loki continued to stare at him. Tony was not easily flustered, but those eyes, the way the god held him in his gaze, it made him feel exposed, as if every detail of all that he did was under intense scrutiny. "What is that you want?" Tony asked Loki, who frowned, not knowing much about Midgardian cuisine. "I know what you'd like," Tony said politely, "an English breakfast. Jarvis."

"Do you require assistance, sir?"

"Jarvis, you can see the problem we're having here with our esteemed royal guest, can't you?"

"I believe so, sir."

"He's been listening," Tony explained to Loki. "Jarvis, I take it you know what you need to have sent up?"

"Yes, sir. Right away."

Loki stepped away, and leaned against the wall. "What is an English breakfast?"

"Well, I figured Norse gods are probably not the cereal and grapefruit type. You have breakfast meats up in Asgard?" Loki nodded. "Yeah, well, it's like that. And you do sound English, anyway."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. England is a country –"

"I know what England is," Loki snapped.

Tony laughed. "Well, you could have fooled me. You don't seem to know much at all about the realm you meant to make yourself king of."

Loki made no response apart from his steady, resentful stare. Within five minutes, there came a knock at the door. Tony turned to it, and looked back at Loki. "That'll be your food. Can I open this?"

Loki nodded cautiously. Then, as quickly as Tony could possibly manage, he pulled open the door and darted out of it. Each side of him two SHIELD agents stood, pointing guns into the room, at Loki. There was no one there with food. Loki's face fell slightly, as he looked at them. Tony grinned. "You got tricked, trickster god. I bet you hate that."

Loki looked at him curiously, and took a step closer. The agents all tensed and gripped their weapons, one barking at him to stay still, an instruction he complied with. His look, however, still demanded an explanation. Tony, still smiling, explained. "See, you should never underestimate Jarvis. He's always got my back. He and I have an understanding, certain words I say, ways I say them, he gets my meaning. Instead of delivering you food, he delivered me a special order of secret agents. Nice job, by the way, Jarvis."

"All in a day's work, sir," the computerised voice replied.

Loki clenched his jaw and scowled. "You will pay for this deception."

"I don't think so. If you ask nicely, I'll ask Thor for you whether I'm allowed to get you some food after all. Now, what's the magic word?" Loki turned away and stalked over to the window, his fury at being spoken to like a badly behaved child palpable. "Not going to play nice?" Tony asked. After a few seconds of silence, he added, "Okay, suit yourself."

Later, when Thor emerged from his room for breakfast, Tony did ask him whether Loki was allowed to eat or not. Thor looked downcast. "No," he said. He could be a man of few words, and Tony had to press him for more details. "Loki is permitted to eat once every four days. No more."

Tony frowned. "I know you're magic people, but all living things take energy to run. One way or another, he's using up energy in clearing up New York. And he brought the two of you all the way to Earth. I'm no expert, but I know nothing runs without fuel. You account for that?"

Thor thought for a moment. "He is due to eat tomorrow night. The All-father's commands were very clear."

* * *

The situation proved to be much the same as it had been the day before. They made it into the afternoon, back at the same office block as the previous day, this time actually rebuilding the thing, helping some very nervous structural engineers put in new girders, new bricks, new pipes. SHIELD agents were, inevitably, all over Loki, guns trained on him at all times in case he did anything out of line, and, to make a massive understatement, Loki did not take kindly to this.

"Hey," one of the male SHIELD agents said abruptly, "step back." He was directing Loki to get back from the road, as a truck was approaching, despite the fact that there was nothing behind Loki but a solid wall.

"I cannot," Loki said, calmly.

The agent took a step closer, the barrel of his gun less than a foot away from Loki. "You can do magic, figure something out, get off the road, ten feet away from moving vehicles, that's what I was told."

"It is impossible." Loki rolled his eyes. "Do not try my patience, mortal."

The agent held his gun tightly. "I will shoot you if I have to –"

"That would be a foolish action. You would regret it."

"I will do it!" He cried, the tension escalating quickly, his fellow agents telling him to calm down.

"Everybody chill," Tony interjected, but for once, no one was listening to him. He held up his hand, directing the truck to a lumbering stop.

"Get back!" The agent shouted.

"I can't," Loki said levelly, raising his hands.

And then, in a split-second, the agent fired his gun straight at Loki's chest, the bullet was repelled by some kind of a forcefield and went back almost precisely the way it had come, hitting the agent's forearm. The agent screamed and fell over backwards, partly from the force of the impact, but mainly from shock.

"You shot him!" shouted one of the other agents, at Loki.

Loki broke into a wide smile. "He shot himself. I _told_ him not to."

Referring to the injured SHIELD agent, Tony said quickly, "Get back! Get him out of here." He waved everyone else back, away from Loki, though several people kept their guns trained on him at all times.

Iron Man then rounded on Loki, grabbing him by the arm. Loki gritted his teeth and resisted, but with the power of the suit Tony was able to turn him round eventually, roughly leading him away.

"What the hell was that?" Tony asked, raising the mask.

Loki shrugged. "My natural defence mechanism. I am well, by the way, thanks for asking."

"You could have avoided the bullet hitting him."

Loki looked him straight in the eyes. "He was within a foot of me. There was not time–"

"Don't give me that, if you tried hard enough–"

"If I were in better health!" Loki shouted back, "maybe, _maybe_ I could have spared his pathetic body from injury. If I had been eating better, perhaps my reactions would have been fast enough. But he still pulled the trigger. It is still his own folly that harmed him. He will not die, anyway."

Tony rolled his eyes. "We should go. No more of this today."

"Oh?" Loki put on a sarcastic expression of sadness. "But I was having such fun."

* * *

People saw it. It was on fucking _YouTube_ within 5 minutes. Attempts were made to take it down, stamp it out, but there was no chance. Fighting against the internet was, almost literally, like fighting against the entire population. Tony told SHIELD that it was pointless, but they put that down to his pessimism. Tony had a few hours to himself, time to calm down, to work on his new suit modifications, the prototypes of his new controls, but he didn't get any less angry with Loki. Eventually, he decided to go down to the apartment and confront him.

The door to Loki's room was closed. Tony raised his hand to knock, before thinking, _screw that_. He turned the handle and threw open the door, panicking for a split second at not seeing Loki immediately. Loki appeared though, to stand at the doorway. "Is there something you want?" he asked, his voice thick with scorn and annoyance.

Tony leaned on the doorframe. "Why did you do that today?"

Loki turned away in exasperation. "He _shot_ at me. What else would you have me do?" The worst thing about this was that Loki was sort of right. That SHIELD agent had been pretty young, probably just too jumpy, too trigger-happy.

"You could've gone through the wall..."

Loki scoffed. "Do you truly think that would have been less alarming? There were agents inside who would have shot at me instead. Besides, I do not have infinite power. Not eating for four months will do that." Loki folded his arms and walked over to the window, turning his back on Tony, who turned to watch him.

Tony frowned. "Really, this whole time you've been in Asgard? No food at all?"

Loki turned back, walking towards him, holding him in his gaze. "It is but _part_ of my punishment. Such noble people, your gods."

Tony scoffed. "I'm an atheist." He looked away, thinking about the Asgardians, but out of nowhere Loki grabbed him by the front of his shirt, dragging him fully into the room. Then, one hand in the centre of Tony's chest, over the arc reactor, Loki pushed him back hard against the wall. With a slight movement of his other hand, he caused the door to slam closed.

"God dammit, paranormal activity," Tony said, "you've gotta stop doing that."

Loki leaned in closer, eyes narrowed, studying Tony. "Why did you come here?"

Tony shrugged. "I didn't; you dragged me in."

Loki moved closer, pinning Tony to the wall by his shoulders. Loki's cold, blue-green eyes swept over Tony analytically, as if sizing him up, taking in information, nothing more. Tony looked up at him, his face only inches away, and Tony could faintly feel Loki's breath on his face. Loki's eyes finally met his and the nature of the look changed; a deeper curiosity, something like desire. Tony swallowed hard. Having a (sort of) _god_ attracted to him, now, he could hardly blame the guy, but...

For a long moment they stayed like that, in silence, before Loki tilted his head slightly to one side, moving closer. Tony asked, "What the hell are you doing?" Loki's eyes met his and a smile flitted across his face before he leaned in and kissed Tony.

Tony immediately hit him, trying to push him back, despite not being anything like strong enough. Loki broke away to frown at him and Tony could still feel his lips tingle where Loki had touched him, from the pressure, from the slight coolness, perhaps, even, from excitement.

"Hey, Thor could be here in a second," Tony threatened him. "I'll get Jarvis to call him."

"Do it," Loki dared him, eyes boring into him. "_Do it._"

Tony narrowed his eyes. "What do you want from me?"

Loki moved closer, pressing his body against Tony. "Is that not obvious?"

Tony laughed and looked away, but Loki grabbed him by the jaw, forcing Tony to look at him. "Do you still fear me?" Loki asked, through gritted teeth.

"I never feared you," Tony shot back.

Loki pressed his body harder against him and pulled at his hair. "Then you are a fool. I could kill you where you stand."

"You won't," Tony replied, flippantly.

"And why not?"

"You like me. I can tell." Tony's eyes flicked downward and he smirked. "You're not exactly subtle. And besides, you would gain nothing. Thor would take you back to Asgard, and your punishment there would be worse. What would be the point?"

"You tricked me. I do not take kindly to that," Loki frowned, though he glanced away, probably meaning he was more annoyed with _himself_ for falling for a trick. He went on, "Thor would not take me back to Asgard. He has no means of getting there other than by my power," Loki replied, levelly, a revelation which alarmed Tony. "And he cares for you," Loki went on, "whereas you are entirely expendable to me. If you were to die, he would be quite distraught. He would be, as you mortals put it, putty in my hands. He has only a tenuous hold over me, based on verbal commands. I am sure it is clear to you that I am the better talker of the two of us; I could very easily talk him into saying the wrong thing, and then I could escape."

Tony tried to keep his face calm. He could, sort of, deal with Loki having the means and the opportunity, but now he had a _motive_ too, this was starting to get just a _little_ outside of his comfort zone. _Entirely expendable_. Tony tried to keep cool. "You won't do it. Your bark is worse than your bite."

Loki moved closer and whispered in Tony's ear, "You have no idea about my bite." As if it was not already obvious what he was implying he pressed himself harder still against Tony, making it difficult for him to draw breath. Tony could only drag in a strangled gasp when he felt the soft touch of Loki's lips against his ear, immediately followed by a sharp nip at his earlobe, pulling it. The sound Loki made was barely audible, a low, breathy growl of desire.

Overpowering Loki was obviously impossible, and though Tony could get Jarvis to call Thor in here, that would be kind of embarrassing. He would attempt to talk his way out of this, if possible. "Look," he said, still struggling to breathe, "you may swing both ways, but I don't–"

"Both?" Loki drew back, to look him in the eyes, curiously. "Your use of the word _both_ implies that the number of... _ways_ is limited to but two." He paused, and reduced the pressure on Tony's body. "What dull and shallow lives you mortals must lead. Go," he stepped away suddenly. "You would probably be a waste of my time."

"Hey," Tony immediately tried to silence himself – this was _not_ a point to argue over – but for some reason he kept talking. "I've got a girlfriend." (Though this was no longer true.) "And she, you know, _volunteered_. Somehow I don't think you can say the same."

A dark expression flickered across Loki's face. "I grow bored with you, Stark. Leave."

Tony knew that he really should take the opportunity to go, but he was surprised and intrigued by the god's sudden change of mood. Loki pulled open the door without touching it. "Get out," he ordered.

"This is my building. I'm the only one who gets to order people around here – well, me and Thor–"

Loki scowled and grabbed hold of Tony's throat, before forcibly leading him to the door and roughly pushing him out of it. Tony stumbled against a chair, and before he could turn around, he heard the door slam.

Tony took a moment to compose himself, rubbing his neck, staring at the closed door. He had _no_ idea what had just happened – his heart pounded and he was still getting his breath back... now _that_ had been exciting.


	4. Community Service

**4: Community Service**

Tony had had a terrible night's sleep. They were all pretty bad, but this one had been exceptional. He had spent hours tossing and turning, half asleep, half awake, aware of the darkness and emptiness of his room, his mind roiling with nightmares. All those Chitauri he had killed came pouring out of a portal like a flood, washing over him, dragging him under – sometimes underwater, sometimes underground, sometimes into the cold, dead void of space. He had woken with a pounding headache, getting out of bed at the crack of dawn, exhausted but unable to stand the thought of spending any more time there.

He whiled away the time with a work out, a long shower and throwing himself into his work. He actually managed to lose track of time a little bit while working on a way to draw parts of his suit to him, in a similar way to how Thor drew his hammer. Well, it was probably nothing like that, actually, as Thor's hammer was summoned by magic. _Fucking magic_.

Or perhaps Tony was just procrastinating from seeing Loki. When Tony eventually went down to Thor and Loki's apartment, he immediately saw Loki stood in the doorway of his room, staring hard at Thor wolfing down his breakfast. Loki was not doing a poor neglected puppy look, which might actually work on Thor, but more of a ravenous wolf, even baring his teeth slightly, probably unconsciously. He looked gaunt and pale, his high cheekbones clearly visible on his face. Thor glanced at him and sighed. "Tonight, brother," he said as gently as possible. Loki sneered and set to pacing around inside his room.

Trying not to look at Loki, Tony drew out a chair and sat opposite Thor. "Maybe we should go easy on him today."

Thor frowned. "Go easy?"

"Yeah," Tony clarified, "I'm not sorry for him or anything, but in practical terms, if he's tired, if he's weak, it could be dangerous. We don't want him making a mistake and destabilising a building or something."

"You make a good point, my friend," Thor said, thoughtfully.

"We should do a PR stunt, you know, have him feed the homeless in a soup kitchen- Oh god, no, wait, that's much worse. You've already got _cruel and unusual_ covered with starving him, making him serve mortals food would probably push him over the edge."

Thor looked quizzically at Tony, and Loki called out through the door, "I can hear you, discussing my fate as if you are superior to me. I will do no such thing."

Thor looked down at his food, eating the last of it. "This is a good idea, my friend."

Tony shook his head, "No no no, it's not, I can see this going horribly wrong for everyone. And after yesterday–"

"He must be seen to be capable of kindness," Thor said, with a wistful look, "Which he _is_."

"I will not do it!" Loki shouted.

Tony and Thor retired to Thor's room to talk about the day, and about a woman Thor had met last time he was here: Jane Foster. Tony agreed to contact her, as well as arranging something philanthropic for Loki to do, all within about an hour. _Never a dull moment_, Tony thought to himself, not sure whether this was better or worse than what he had going on before. This seemed to be more exhausting.

When he later returned to Thor and Loki's apartment, Thor was apparently talking to Jane on the phone, as Tony could hear his voice but no one else's. Tony smirked to himself a little, imagining Thor figuring out the technology, as he crossed the floor to Loki's room. And when he got there, he had to blink and shake his head to be sure of what he was seeing.

Loki was sat in his chair by the window, looking out, eating an ice-cream. When Tony appeared in the doorway, Loki turned to look at him amiably. "Hello, Stark," he said simply.

Tony's mind raced: at first he wanted to blurt out the question of why Loki did not simply create food for himself whenever he felt like it, but in the same instant that he asked the question of himself, he reasoned out the answer. "That's not real food."

"No," Loki admitted, eating more of it. "It is an illusion."

Tony took a deep breath. "Your mind really is a bag of cats." He then let out a laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing..." Tony said, "It's just, you look..." _Don't say 'cute'_. "You look like a little kid."

Loki simply smiled and consumed more of the ice-cream, as if this was perfectly ordinary. Tony went on, "Even if you consume it, I would have thought that it would _cost_ you energy. You have to... digest it, as well, absorb it back into yourself one way or another."

"Indeed." Loki raised his eyebrows, apparently somewhat impressed.

"Because, if you could conjure sustenance for yourself out of nothing, that would make you like a perpetual motion machine. And that's impossible."

"Even for me," Loki agreed.

Tony sighed with relief. "Well, I'm glad you have _some_ physics in Asgard." Loki continued to eat the ice-cream, and Tony tried not to watch the way his tongue flicked over it- _Dammit, Loki was doing this on purpose_. Tony had thought that Loki was acting as if nothing had happened the day before, but no, not exactly...

"Okay," Tony said, trying to change the subject. "I know what we're doing today. I won't have you feed people – I won't _let_ you, more like. But we're going to take supplies out to some of the more isolated communities, places where people don't even have clean water, fuel, and all that stuff. We'll take a helicopter."

"Why?" Loki asked. "You can fly. Thor and I can fly as well, in a manner of speaking."

Tony paused to wonder how exactly Loki apparently already knew what a helicopter was, but didn't call him on it. "Yeah, but we have to carry a bunch of stuff. And we'll be going a long way, making several trips. The helicopter is better."

Loki shrugged indifferently and looked out of the window.

* * *

Loki was surprisingly co-operative. When he got in the helicopter he immediately strapped himself in, as he had done in the Quintjet when the Avengers had first apprehended him in Stuttgart. Not that that had helped him in the least when Thor arrived to tear him out of the seat. "Why do you do that?" Tony asked.

Loki looked at him as if he did not understand the question. "Why would I not? I dislike trusting others to transport me by air, particularly _mortal_ pilots. I am not going to die in this ridiculous contraption."

"Hmm," Tony sat down in the seat next to him, no easy task in the Iron Man suit, not bothering with the harnesses himself. "Well, I'd trust a mortal pilot over an _im_mortal pilot any day, that's for sure."

Loki smiled a little and sat back in his seat, glancing at Thor sat opposite them, working out the straps for himself. And if Tony didn't know better, he would say that Loki was watching to see that Thor did it correctly... almost as if he cared.

The journey over to the emergency distribution centre where the supplies were located only took a few minutes in the helicopter. Loki sneered at the sight of the place; old, dilapidated, and with white paint faded to grey and peeling from the side of the building. "It looks _filthy_," he spat, with immense derision.

"Yeah, well, whose fault is that?" Tony asked pointedly.

"It matters not," Thor said. "We need not worry; we cannot contract or even carry disease."

"Hey," Tony said, "that's the spirit! Kind of..."

* * *

This day, fortunately, passed without any major incidents. The people living in their half-destroyed homes were not exactly thrilled that a war criminal had shown up, but at least _someone_ had shown up. This area was difficult to get to; debris lining the streets, downed trees, and so on.

The temporary distribution centre became a familiar sight for the three of them, as they landed the helicopter there several times, loading up more water and food each time, even giving lifts to a couple of exceptionally wary doctors lifts to people who needed them.

After a reasonably successful day they ended up back at Tony's apartment, which scarcely felt like _his_, what with the couple of SHIELD agents who invited themselves in to watch Loki.

Agent Maria Hill took Thor aside, out of earshot of Loki, to speak to Thor about Jane Foster, who was due to be arriving later that very same day. Tony hoped that Foster could be trusted to keep a secret, namely, that Thor and Loki didn't leave Earth each day, but she probably could. Tony had looked her up, and she seemed pretty smart – inventive too, constructing much of her own equipment. In those respects, she was not unlike Tony, and Tony paused to wonder whether Loki had more in common with Thor than he liked to admit.

At that moment, Loki said he wished to sit down, so Tony led them over to a table by the window. The SHIELD agents kept their eyes on them, but made no particular attempt to intervene, not since what happened to their buddy the day before.

Tony sat in one seat and Loki slid into the one next to him, sort of trapping him there against the wall. Tony felt the thrill of excitement as Loki held him in his gaze. It was the same thrill that Tony had felt when he had confronted Loki in Stark Tower that first time in New York. Loki had been a prisoner and an adversary, and Tony Stark had walked straight up to him and talked to him, no suit, no shield, no real defence at all.

When Tony had made his report to SHIELD, some time later, Fury had asked him how he knew that the arc reactor in his chest would protect him from Loki's sceptre, how he knew that he would be able to get his suit on while falling through the air – but the truth was, Tony had not known any of that, not at all. Loki was danger personified and that was why Tony had walked towards him. It was completely dangerous, reckless – and that was all that mattered, that rush of adrenaline.

Tony's heart raced as Loki leaned in close to him to speak, those cold, blue-green eyes fixed on him at all times. "You are a sadist, Stark, for making me do this." Under the table Loki brazenly placed his hand on Tony's thigh. Tony tensed at the contact, wanting to react, to get him to stop, but not wanting to draw attention to them, at least not that kind of attention. "Tonight," Loki stated, tightening his grip a little, "come to my room again."

"Oh, I'm not sold on that," Tony said, in a mocking tone. "The last two times I've been in there, you've threatened to kill me."

Loki looked him right in the eyes. "I don't threaten. I made statements of fact. I said that I _could_ kill you. Not that I _would_." After a tense silence, he added, "You will be there."

Tony scoffed. "Is that right?"

"I desire you, Stark..." Loki's eyes flicked down, and his hand crept higher up Tony's thigh.

"Yesterday, you said you were bored with me."

Loki smiled. "That was _yesterday_."

Tony shook his head. This guy was just impossible to pin down. And he knew that that was Loki's angle, that was how he pulled people's strings, but somehow, even knowing that did little to prevent Tony from being sucked in by his curiosity as well. Loki was a puzzle that it seemed impossible to solve, and Tony had never been able to resist that kind of a challenge. And then, there was that large yet delicate hand on his thigh to consider, as well...

"I told you, I have a girlfriend," Tony insisted, though Loki probably could tell that he was lying.

Loki shrugged disinterestedly. "Your dealings with her are of no concern to me."

"Well they're of concern to me." Tony stood his ground. There was certainly no doubt that he cared about Pepper, no matter what was going on, or _not_ going on between them. And if she were to find out about this, then he would never win her round again.

Loki smiled as if Tony had said something funny, glancing across the room. "I only require one moment of weakness," he slid his hand further up Tony's thigh, pulling it away just before reaching his crotch, gracefully removing himself from the chair. Thor was available again, and Loki walked away, to join him, without looking back, Tony watching the confident strut with which he walked, the way his coat billowed out behind him. Tony took in a sharp breath and shook his head.

On a purely physical basis, there was no getting away from the fact that he did find Loki attractive. More than that, the God of Mischief _knew_ how he looked, what he could do to people, and Tony had no doubt that Loki took full advantage of that for his own amusement. Loki was so confident of his own sexuality, so fully in possession of it – and that cocksure attitude, in itself, made it easy to feel lust towards him. Tony was finally starting to understand his "fans" on the internet, who had greatly increased in number at the publication of news articles and new, higher definition pictures.

Tony was not generally interested in other men, but it certainly wasn't as if he had never been curious or never experimented. With Tony's lifestyle it had been sort of inevitable that he had got himself into situations with a variety of open-minded people, and it was also rather inevitable that one thing had led to another on more than a few occasions. There had been the very occasional rumour about him and other men in the press, but nothing had ever been proven – more by luck than judgement on Tony's part. Very little judgement was ever involved in his sex life. Tony had never been overly concerned with what anyone else thought about his sexuality, anyway. When he got to about 40 and hadn't married, he was easily able, with his reputation, to brush the question off with the simple fact that he was not exactly the marrying type.

* * *

Thor had Loki confined to his room that evening, at the time Jane Foster arrived. Pepper was there with Tony and Thor to greet her and see that she had whatever she needed, and this was actually the first time Tony had seen Pepper in person for a while. He still spoke to her and sent her messages, of course, she was running his company, but he never seemed to see her. They had agreed to keep things strictly business, though Tony wasn't sure he remember _agreeing_ to that, per se. He should have known, really, that he didn't have what it took to make things work, not with someone like her. He wasn't even the relationship type. Perhaps he was better off alone.

The elevator doors opened and Jane appeared. There was a moment of hesitation – as Thor and Jane had surely not seen each other for about a year. Thor walked over to her, took her hand and kissed it, which made her smile broadly.

They settled down to eat, catching up, talking about New York, Asgard, everything other than Loki. He was kind of the elephant in the room.

"So..." Tony asked Thor, "what is Loki doing for dinner?"

Jane looked decidedly uncomfortable at the mention of Loki, and Thor answered. "He has had food taken to him."

"Cool..." Tony downed the last of his scotch and realised that he had not the least idea how many glasses of it he had had so far that evening. "Maybe I'll go check on him. Check he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Tony," Pepper said, confused. "I'm sure SHIELD can handle him."

"Yeah, probably..."

"Relax, my friend," Thor said, quite insistent that Tony stay with them.

So, Tony did stay. He made some polite conversation and a few jokes that were entirely impolite, really, and then made his excuses and retreated to his room. There was a moment in which he felt resentful about having these people essentially invite themselves around for dinner – but no, they were his friends.

And yet – the entire time, all Tony thought about was Loki, presently alone in the apartment on the floor below. At least he had food–

Tony sat down on his bed and sighed heavily. There was no reason for him to be concerned with Loki's welfare. If that was anyone's problem, it was Thor's, and Thor said Loki was fine. And Tony believed that Loki was fine – Loki was always fine. That guy could make sure that everything worked out for him.

How was it that it still felt as though Loki had power over him, even now? The realisation hit him: he was still thinking about Loki, thinking about him almost obsessively. Even if he did not appear at Loki's room, there was a sense in which Loki was still with him, on his mind, and Tony could not get away from him there. With almost everything else in life, Tony seemed to not have the energy to think about it after the fact. He experienced things, and then they were over. Emptiness and desolation rushed back to him the second he landed from a flight in the suit, the second he stopped working, the second he started to sober up.

Taking a deep breath, he poured himself another drink, and took a large gulp. The warmth spread through his chest, and by this time, his body was starting to feel a little more relaxed. His mind, however, continued to race at a million miles an hour, and the alcohol served only to make it move more chaotically, unintelligibly. It was nearing midnight; he would have to sleep at some point. Sleep. How had that become a daily chore?

* * *

A/N: I only realised today that this website has been randomly deleting the scene breaks I originally put in without telling me... so if this seemed to jump randomly from one thing to another, that's why lol. Using the scene breaks the website provides now.


	5. Romantic Gestures

**5: Romantic Gestures**

A/N: This part is a little longer than average. I have no idea how this thing ended up being so long, ha.

After yet another terrible night's sleep, the latest in a very long line, Tony went down to the apartment below, to see the door to Loki's room open. He went over, but this time, he was sure as hell not going in there. Tony smiled, "Morning, sunshine."

On this occasion Loki was dressed casually and reading a book. He looked up from it to bid Tony a reserved, "Good morning." In Tony's mind, Loki was disappointed that Tony had not gone to see him the previous night, but if that were really true, then Loki was not showing it.

Tony asked, "Where is Thor?"

Loki looked away in disgust. "He has company. The other mortal, the scientist."

"If Foster is the _other_ mortal, does that make me _the_ mortal?"

Loki gave Tony a withering look, and he did not answer the question. "She refused to be in the same apartment as me, so they are next door."

Tony glanced around. "How long have you been here, alone?"

Loki was quiet for a moment. "I enjoy my own company," he said flatly.

There was a moment of quiet between them. Tony had no doubt that Loki _could_ enjoy being alone, as long as he was working on something, as long as he had a sense of purpose. But if he was anything like Tony, which it appeared that he very much was, then being left alone with his thoughts for an extended period would be a different matter entirely.

"You still have the internet."

Loki clenched his jaw. "The puerility of it became grating. And besides," he added, "we do not have such screens to stare at in Asgard. My eyes are not accustomed to it."

Tony laughed slightly before he could stop himself. "I thought you were a god – you're telling me the computer hurt your eyes?"

Loki glared at him. "Is there a purpose to your visit other than to mock me?"

Tony nodded but paused to wonder – _did Loki know there was porn on the internet? Is there porn in Asgard?_ – but this was not the time to think about... _that_. "We're going out in a few minutes. I'll go talk to Thor. Also, tonight, we have a social engagement," his voice faltered, "Thor is invited, not so sure about you."

Loki kept his face outwardly neutral, but that action in itself demonstrated to Tony that he was trying to keep some other expression of his face, most likely a mixture of bitterness and rage. Tony added, "I'll put in a word for you, alright, as long as you promise to behave yourself." Loki stared hard at him in silence before getting up and going over to stand by the window. Tony could see him in profile then, the strong lines of his jaw and cheekbone, his long, straight nose. His hair still stood up a little at the back, though it had grown and some of it now trailed down onto his shoulders. As if Loki could sense what Tony was looking at, he absent-mindedly tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

Tony took a sudden breath, hit by the realisation that he was staring at Loki. "See you later," he said casually, though Loki made no response. Tony walked away shaking his head, trying to get the image of Loki's face out of his mind.

* * *

Loki seemed a little more energetic having eaten something, his eyes shone a little brighter, he was less pale, he moved more easily and with less fatigue. Yet again they spent the day restoring power lines. For the most part, the witch-hunt was dying down. People knew that there was no chance of getting to Loki, and even if there were, that would end badly for _them_, not him. For the most part, people instead decided to avoid whatever part of the city Loki was in – which generated a whole new type of complaint; Loki was bad for business. And that mattered in New York, even on Sundays.

What Tony had described as the social engagement that evening was held at a hotel in Manhattan – one of the buildings catastrophically damaged by the Chitauri. They had just about got the place fixed up themselves, though the parking garage behind the hotel was condemned; probably too unstable for anyone to fix. Tony had agreed to look at it anyway, and then the hotel managers had invited Thor. They had not invited Loki, but Thor invited him. Even in a regular suit, Thor looked pretty intimidating and could get defensive about his brother, so no one argued the point.

Loki seemed to be behaving himself, and it had somehow become Tony's responsibility to keep him as far away as possible from Jane while they had a few drinks and spoke to the managers, who then led Tony, Thor and Loki outside to look at this unstable building, accompanied by Maria Hill and a couple of her colleagues.

It was damn cold outside, and Tony wished that he had worn a coat, like Loki. They got to the entrance of the building and were stopped by the manager. "You gotta wear hard hats to go in here," he said. Thor looked genuinely mystified by the very concept, and Loki looked disparaging. The man faltered, and turned to Tony. "Well, you do."

Tony took the yellow helmet and put it on, to the surprise of all present. "What?" He said, as Agent Hill looked at him. "Safety first, that's always my motto. Let's get this over with." It was bitterly cold, even in the building, the icy wind slicing through it, and Tony had no desire to waste time arguing the point that if the place collapsed, a helmet wasn't exactly going to save him.

Being a parking garage, the place had not been enclosed to start with, and it offered virtually no protection from the cold. Tony looked around himself as they were led up to the first floor, driven by a childish sort of desire to run off and explore.

A raven swooped down and landed on the low wall at the side of the building, and Tony watched it closely. He had seen those birds around a lot, recently. He started to wander over to it, ducking under a line of caution tape. The bird stretched out its wings, but then brought them in again, not going anywhere.

In that instant, there was a sudden cracking sound and a low rumble somewhere around him, everywhere around him. _Shit_. "Stark!" Tony heard Loki's voice behind him and span around, only to be tacked to the ground, only for the ground to not exactly be there anymore. There was a cacophony of noise, a sensation of falling, and then of hitting the ground with a thud, Loki landing heavily on top of him.

"Get off me," Tony grumbled, pushing Loki, who rolled over onto his back with a wince, closing his eyes. "Oh man, are you okay?"

"I am well," Loki assured him. He stretched out, closing his eyes. "But it would benefit me if I could lie down for a minute."

Tony looked around him. They were trapped within the rubble, a thin golden sheen forming a dome above them. That had to be magic, that had to be what was keeping them alive, Tony worked out. The building had fallen down with them inside it – as well, of course, as Thor and the manager. He then looked at Loki warily. "How long can you hold this little den together?"

Loki replied without opening his eyes. "Not indefinitely. I know not." There was a pause, and then he added, "Probably not as long as I could do, had I been eating better of late."

Tony grumbled, "I get the point, there's nothing I can do about that, change the record."

At that moment, his phone rang, and he answered it to speak to Agent Hill. Loki listened with interest to the one-sided conversation that followed. "Yeah, I'm fine … No, he's not doing anything … We don't have a way out of here … Cool … Yeah, of course … I know … I _know_. Jeez. … I'll call you if anything happens. Ciao." He hung up, shaking his head. "It seems like everyone else is okay. But no one up there likes the idea of me being trapped with you down here."

"_I_ do not like the idea of you being trapped with me down here," Loki replied, swiftly.

Tony took a deep breath, trying to keep his teeth from chattering slightly in the cold. "So. What do you wanna do? Play _I spy_?"

Loki did not answer, sitting up wearily, and resting his back against the wall of their little cavern. "I'm serious," Tony said quickly. They had hardly any light, apart from the dim golden glow of the dome above them, and the blue radiance of Tony's arc reactor, visible through his clothes in the dark. There was really nothing to see apart from the two of them, and the rubble in which they were imprisoned. "I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with D."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "I do not understand." Tony sighed in exasperation, but Loki went on, "Are you asking me to name, of the things you can see, that which begins with the letter D – as in, the fourth letter of your Latin alphabet?"

"Hey, you catch on quick. Way to go. Guess."

Loki glanced around. "This sounds like an exceptionally dull game."

"Just do it," Tony snapped.

Loki turned his head to the side, studying Tony carefully. "We will be alright," he said, steadily.

Tony pulled up his legs and wrapped his arms around them, trying to keep warm. "I know, it's a game to kill time, that's all." He paused. "I'm just, honestly, I'm not a huge fan of being trapped in caves. That's not been great for me in the past."

Loki scoffed. "And you think it has for me? The Aesir take trapping people in caves to a level you cannot begin to imagine."

After a pause he took a few guesses including dirt and dust. He frowned at not being able to get the answer. "If the answer is darkness, technically, that is not a _thing_ that one sees; it is only the absence of light."

"I know, genius. It's not darkness," Tony answered, to which Loki sighed. "I'll tell you," Tony went on. "_Diva_. That's you. I would also have accepted _deranged megalomaniac_."

Loki sneered, and said nothing. They sat in silence for a while, Tony shaking slightly as the cold seemed to creep in around him. If he at least had space to move, he could warm himself up, but he wouldn't even have been able to stand in the confined space. He rubbed his hands together.

Loki watching this, broke their silence. "I would conjure a fire for you, of course, but we have a finite amount of air in here, and no way out for the smoke. It would suffocate you."

"Yeah," Tony said, absently. "No fire. It's the thought that counts."

Loki shrugged off his long black coat. "Thanks, but no," Tony replied to this gesture. Loki held it out and shook it insistently, and Tony refused again. "I don't like being handed things."

Loki dropped it on the ground next to Tony, and leaned back against the opposite wall. "I do not mind the cold," he explained. "Take it." Tony did not take it for several minutes, simply sitting there, next to it, shivering. Loki did not seem fazed at all, and watched him, curiously.

After around five minutes of this uncomfortable silence, the cold becoming increasingly insufferable, Tony gave in, and put the coat on, wrapping it around himself as best as he could. It was heavy, and his hands did not quite reach out the ends of the sleeves. Loki laughed slightly. "What?" Tony shot back.

"You are so tiny, all of you," Loki said, visibly amused.

"_Tiny_," Tony repeated. "Your brother said that."

The smile disappeared abruptly from Loki's face. He looked down at the ground between his splayed legs. Tony did feel a little warmer with the coat. He heard a rumble somewhere above them, in the distance. "Speak of the devil," Tony muttered, realising that that must be Thor, clearing the debris to reach them.

"Explain." Loki said.

"Oh," Tony replied, "well, speak of the devil, it's an expression, for when you're talking about someone, and then they appear. I'm assuming that's the god of thunder rumbling around up there."

Loki took this in and nodded. "Yes. He will reach us faster than any of your machines could. It still may take him some time, however."

Tony's phone rang again, and he had another brief conversation with Agent Hill. He was insistent about knowing what Loki was doing, and warned Tony not to talk to him. Tony hung up with a sigh, his breath clouding in front of his face. "Agent Hill is convinced you're going to mind-control me," he grumbled. "We're adults, we can have a polite conversation."

Loki smiled slightly. "Indeed. Are you still cold? You could have my scarf."

Tony shot him a withering look. "I'm fine, I don't need your stupid scarf. What is it with you and scarves, anyway?"

Loki slid the scarf off from around his neck. "What is it with you and shirts displaying the names of groups of musicians?" He asked in return. "There is, as they say, no accounting for taste."

Tony tensed as Loki moved to kneel in front of him, reaching out and wrapping the scarf snugly around his neck. It felt like exceptionally soft wool, lamb's wool perhaps, and it had Loki's particular smell to it; an inexplicable combination of the smell of the air on a bitterly cold day, burning, and something else Tony could not hope to identify. "Your pride will be the death of you," Loki muttered, tucking in one end of the scarf, his fingers grazing Tony's face, lingering there.

"Woah," Tony's breath caught in his throat. "I know we've got privacy and soft lighting, but the imminent danger of death is kind of a mood-killer."

Loki's eyes snapped up at his, mere inches away. The blue glow of the arc reactor cast striking light and shadow over his face, emphasising his cheekbones, and lighting up the blue tones of his eyes. Tony's lips parted as he looked at him, feeling strangely drawn to him again at that moment. The god knitted his brows together. "Really, Stark, I am not in the mood." He pulled away, and resumed leaning against the opposite wall, closing his eyes and leaning his head against it with a grimace. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers, in obvious pain.

"How you holding up, Romeo?" Tony asked with genuine concern, even of only for himself. If Loki could not hold this place together, he was done for.

"I've been better," he said. "But I have also been much, much worse." When his eyes met Tony's that time, Tony recognised that look immediately – he'd seen it in the mirror enough times. It was a haunted look, not just the look of a man remembering something awful, but the look of a man who could not possibly stop remembering it, who carried it around with him, every minute of every day. It was always there, and whenever he stopped to think, whenever he was in darkness, whenever he was in silence, it made its presence felt. And no matter how much Tony, or Loki, longed to be rid of it, it was somehow impossible. The only thing that they could set their minds to was the sisyphean task of seeking out new experience after new experience, to push it ever back.

Tony nodded. A certain question was on his mind, but he had no idea how Loki would respond to it. It would not go away, however, and they weren't talking about anything else. "So... what with falling through an inter-dimensional portal, leading a failed invasion, and then getting thrown in Asgardian jail... I guess... it's been a while?" Loki shot him a look. "Well," Tony went on, "That explains a lot."

Loki shifted closer, to sit beside Tony, turning himself around to face his companion, tucking one long leg under the other. "Why do you ask? Are you thinking of doing something to change it?"

"I thought you weren't in the mood."

"And I thought you weren't interested." Loki leaned in closer.

"I'm not," Tony insisted. "I just wanted to understand why you were being so forward with me, and now I do: you're _desperately_ in need of getting laid."

Loki laughed. "You do yourself a disservice, Stark, that is not the reason."

"Then what is the reason?"

"Fishing for compliments, are we?"

"Of course not; there are plenty of reasons, I just wanted to know which, specifically," Tony replied, wishing that was strictly true. "And we're enemies. You tried to make me your mind slave, and when that didn't work, you threw me out of a window – we're not exactly Mills and Boon. You hate me and I hate you."

"I do not hate you," Loki said, his voice low, resting a hand on Tony's arm. "You were just on the opposing team. It was never anything personal. And besides," he added, "I fail to see what that has to do with the subject. Based on your track record, you do not consider there to necessarily be any relation between sex and love."

Tony had, of course, known that this was what they were talking about all along, but hearing him be so explicit changed things, somehow. It caused a strange, indefinable feeling within him, some combination of fear, alarm, and excitement. Loki went on, "And from seeing you with your female companion yesterday, I'd say that you are not currently getting much of either. Surely she is not always that cold with you?"

"No," Tony answered, wistfully, before adding, "It's not her fault. It's complicated."

Loki began to speak again, but stopped when he heard movement above, what sounded like some kind of an avalanche. He continued, as if nothing had happened. "If it bothers you that I am not a woman, I can change that."

"You can?" Tony widened his eyes, unable to say anything more cogent.

"I can."

"Woah. I bet you make one hell of a woman." Loki narrowed his eyes and a curious expression crossed his face. Tony went on, "Don't, though. _That_ would just be weird."

Loki grinned. "I said that that I _can_, not that I _will_. This is an important distinction, Stark, you really must learn."

Tony sighed in exasperation. Leaning back against the rock behind him. "And the gold medal for pedantry goes to..."

Loki silently leaned against Tony, resting his head on his shoulder. Tony would stop him, but he had no place to go to get away. It was an invasion of his personal space, sure, but it wasn't too bad. Then, Loki's slender fingers crept inside the sleeve of the coat and found Tony's hand. Tony knew that he should resist, but he didn't, as Loki trailed delicate patterns on the back of his hand, before drawing back a little only to intertwine his fingers with Tony's. He didn't know why he was letting this happen, but tried to rationalise that it was okay on the basis that it was nothing major, just a little display of... of what? Affection? The bizarre intimacy forced into existence by being trapped together? Yes, it was more like the latter: in any other situation, Tony would not be doing this. The evening's events seemed altogether weird, and more than a little _convenient_ for Loki. Tony was about to say something, when the sound of movement was heard directly ahead.

Loki pulled away and got up on his knees, in doing so, nearly reaching the ceiling of the barrier. He heard Thor's booming voice call his name, and responded. Thor soon appeared, dragging away a large piece of the steel frame above.

When Tony could see the night sky above, and Thor's face looking down at him, he was beyond relieved. He immediately tried to stand, but Loki stopped him. "You cannot pass through this energy barrier," he explained. "I will have to stop generating it, and when I do, all of this will become unstable. Come here," he pulled Tony closer, so they were kneeling, facing each other, and wrapped his arms around Tony's waist.

"Hey," Tony whispered, "easy, Casanova –"

Loki rolled his eyes, and in one easy movement got to his feet and lifted Tony up. There was a crack in the air like a snap of static electricity as the barrier vanished. Tony was lifted from Loki's arms into Thor's, feeling, in fact, very tiny all of a sudden. Loki scrambled out of the crumbling debris behind them, and as Tony was placed on the ground he turned to see Loki stagger and sit down on some rocks, slumping forward with his elbows on his knees. Thor went over to him immediately and knelt in front of him, putting a hand on Loki's shoulder, which was roughly batted away.

In the next few moments, Agent Hill and the other SHIELD agents were determined to get an explanation for events. However, as Tony spoke to them, he tried to keep an eye on Thor and Loki, watching them exchange a few quiet words. Finally, Thor held Loki by his sides and pulled him to his feet, Loki leaning heavily on him. It was a strangely intimate picture, and Tony saw for the first time that they really were _brothers_, regardless of Loki having been adopted. Tony blinked and watched them closely, never having had a brother himself, struggling even to process the concept of what it meant to have a life-long companion that one may love like that. And of course – Thor and Loki's was a thousand year old relationship by this point.

Thor had told Tony that he and Loki grew up together, whereas Tony had always been alone as a child, both at home and when he was sent away to school. The other children had made fun of Tony's intense interest in technology, his higher intelligence, and they were not inclined to befriend him unless he could make them laugh, or help them get into mischief. Tony realised with a start the progress of his train of thought, as he wondered what kind of childhood two princes of Asgard might have, whether Loki's life had been strikingly similar to his own, whether Loki could have felt the same loneliness despite having a brother who so obviously cared for him.

It was only later, back in his apartment at Stark Tower that Tony realised he still had Loki's scarf and coat. He took them off and draped them over the back of a chair, but he presently decided to retrieve the scarf that had been wrapped around Loki's long, slender neck, and later, around Tony's.

Tony glanced around, as if someone may be watching, before pressing the scarf to his nose, making a fresh attempt to understand the smell. Aspects of it were so familiar that Tony felt immediately drawn to it, and yet others were so definitely alien that it was disconcerting, it made him instinctively wary. Together, it reminded him of Loki, and nothing and no one else, and he wondered whether that was intentional. Tony was not sure why, but when he finally crawled into bed, he took the scarf with him, taking the softness of it in his hand and against his face as a kind of comfort. If anyone knew that forty-something iron-suit-wearing billionaire playboy Avenger Tony Stark did things like this – well, he'd never live it down... but no one had to know.


	6. Invitations

**6: Invitations**

After what had happened the day before, on this day, Tony finally got a chance to take things easy. It was the afternoon by the time he went out for a brief flight in the suit, surveying the city, seeing what kind of a state various parts of it were in, making plans for what else to do.

When he got back, he went down to Thor and Loki's apartment and told them which parts of the city were still damaged, and where people needed the most help. Loki seemed decidedly uninterested in this, looking out the window all the while.

Tony noticed that perched out there on the ledge were two black ravens – just as he had seen on so many other days – too many for it to be a coincidence. Tony gestured to them, "Are these two like your spirit animals or something?"

Loki opened the window and extended his hand to the birds, who both shied away from him. He beckoned one towards him and, with some trepidation, it eventually jumped forward to perch on his arm. Loki drew the bird nearer to them, saying simply, "Odin sees much, for a man with one eye."

"Wait, I read about that," Tony said, vaguely. "The ravens who inform Odin of things. They're real?"

"Very much so," Loki confirmed, looking the bird closely in the eye. "He is watching me, everywhere."

Tony leaned in to look at the bird. "Hey, All-father, how's it going?"

Loki looked at him disparagingly. "It's a bird. It will not answer you."

Tony rolled his eyes. "I thought you had talking animals in Asgard?"

"No," Loki frowned, "there are those who speak who have the appearance of animals–"

"So talking animals."

"_No_," Loki insisted. "It is more complicated than that."

"Sure it is," Tony laughed.

Tony then concluded their business and returned to his apartment, immediately setting to tinkering with the scattered components of what may be a new Iron Man suit. He tried to lose himself in the project, tried to let it be all that his mind was occupied with, just as he did most other days. The next major leap for him would be to control the suit with his mind, if he could find a way. It was theoretically possible, but it had never been done. At least – not officially. He was aware of rumours at a shady company called Future Pharm of the Extremis project – which sent nanobots into the body. The implications were endless.

Somehow, though, this did not consume him in the way it usually did. Thor would probably be with Jane, which would mean that Loki would be by himself... not that it mattered, but Tony was pretty curious about what he was doing, so decided to go down and see him.

The door to his room was closed, and it occurred to Tony that he could be doing something private in there...

Apparently not, though, as Loki opened the door himself and looked directly at Tony. "What do you want, Stark?"

"Oh I'm fine, how are you?" Tony replied.

Loki was dressed in his usual style, all leather and armour and belts... it was pretty sexy, but it did not look comfortable. "So," Tony asked, "what are you up to?"

"That is none of your concern." Loki replied.

"Hey," Loki made to close the door, and Tony stepped towards it, holding it open. "Did you figure out that there's porn on the internet?"

Loki blinked and looked at him, curiously. "I already knew that."

"I bet you did," Tony continued, not really sure of what the hell he was still doing here, why he was saying this. "Is that what you were doing?"

"I was reading," Loki said, wearily. "Norse mythology, if you are that interested." He paused. "So what were you doing?"

Tony shrugged, "Come up to my apartment, and see for yourself."

Tony then watched in stunned silence as Loki threw his head back and laughed, striding towards him and then – out the door. Loki smiled gleefully at the look on Tony's face. "Thor forgot to mention," he explained, "the only other instance in which I may leave: if I am invited out."

_Shit_. "I was kidding."

"In tone, yes," Loki mused. "But in your heart, you must have meant it. You invited me."

Tony gulped. "So, you're like a vampire."

"What?"

Tony explained, "Vampires could only enter people's homes if they were invited in. They were mythical Earth creatures. You _are_ kind of rocking the vampire look. You better not be able to come and go as you please from now on."

"No," Loki replied. "Shall we go?"

"We can't just walk straight past the SHIELD agents outside," Tony explained.

"We will not have to," Loki grinned. "There is another way out of this apartment."

_There was no way that Loki could know that_. "Why do you think there's another way out?" Tony asked, levelly.

Loki shrugged. "You built this tower. And if _I_ were to build a tower, that's the sort of thing I would do."

_Damn_. "And What if Thor comes to find you not here?" Tony asked.

Loki closed his eyes momentarily, projecting a copy of himself back into the room. The copy looked like Loki on the surface, but even Tony could tell that it was a shallow imitation, a soulless illusion. Loki looked back at Tony, closing the door of his room. "It will go to bed and pretend to sleep if Thor should investigate, though I do not expect him to. He is rather... distracted." He looked as if he had tasted something vile at the implied mention of Jane Foster.

Tony led Loki over to the kitchen, tapping a panel of the wall to cause it to swing open. He waved Loki in ahead of him, not wanting to have his back to him. Loki peered in at the dimly lit metal staircase with some trepidation, but began to make his way up, Tony following, directing him to the locked door into his own apartment.

"Why are you allowing me here?" Loki asked curiously as they entered, looking around the spacious room which he had, of course, been in before.

_Because it's stupid and dangerous and I want you_. "I invited you," Tony shrugged.

"You could still contact Thor and have him drag me back to my cell," Loki said, levelly. Loki's room was pretty comfortable, hardly a _cell_.

Tony walked up the steps to the bar, past the photograph on the side of himself and Pepper, which somehow he hadn't got around to removing. "Well, if I did that," Tony explained, "You would be mad and might flip out again. But maybe, as long as I'm nice to you, you'll be nice to me."

Loki laughed. "Do you really believe that?"

"Not for a second," Tony said with a smile. "But still, you did save my life." _Even though you're probably the one who endangered it in the first place_, Tony thought.

"You're welcome."

"So I figure I owe you a drink."

Loki looked around at Tony's assorted bottles. "Yes. Whatever you're having."

Loki wandered around the apartment, picking up and examining various components he found lying about. When he started poring over the screens, Tony had to say something, telling him to stop. Loki simply raised an eyebrow and carried on. He did not take orders well. Tony tried a different tactic: "I made your drink."

Loki walked over and took the glass, holding the liquid up to the light to study it carefully. "What is this?"

"Martini," Tony replied. "You'll like it."

Loki took a sip of it tentatively and looked off into the middle distance, judging it. He then tipped the glass back and downed the rest of it in one gulp.

"No, dammit, don't down it," Tony grumbled, "have some class. It took me longer to make than it took you to drink."

Loki looked at him airily. "Then you had best make more."

Tony shook his head and made a pitcher of it, taking it over the table where they sat together and talked for a while. Loki knew how to make conversation, to put people at ease – as it was probably after that that he would be able to try his manipulation techniques... not that Tony was dumb enough to fall for anything like that.

Tony had to drink a lot nowadays to actually get drunk, but he definitely had enough over the hour that followed for it to make a difference to him. He felt warm and light, and everything seemed funny. Loki seemed funny, and attractive. Hell, he was always attractive, of course, Tony knew that – objectively, as a fact. But it was the case now that Tony simply couldn't stop looking at him, and whenever he spoke Loki would meet his eyes and focus all of his attention on him, as if Tony were the only thing that mattered in the world.

Out of nowhere, at some point, Loki said, "Thank you, Stark."

Tony froze. "That sounded sincere. You're actually thanking me?"

"Of course. Captivity does not suit me."

"Me neither," Tony replied, without thinking.

Loki leaned closer. "Let's get out of here."

"Oh, right, sure, I'll go warm up the car." Loki smiled and Tony added, "No! That time I really was kidding. That wasn't an invitation. We're not going anywhere."

Loki leaned back on the couch. "You're no fun."

"Shut up," Tony hit him playfully on the arm, and then panicked momentarily. But Loki did not seem bothered, and only moved closer. They could have plenty of fun right here...

"Tell me, honestly," Tony slurred a little. "You brought that building down, didn't you? Yesterday."

Loki smiled, and did not confirm or deny it. "Why would I do a thing like that?"

"For the chance to get close to me, and to make yourself look like a hero to me." Tony was, or at least had been, pretty sure that this was true, but had not worked out yet how he felt about it. He knew he should be angry, but it was rather hard to be angry at Loki, just at the moment.

Loki moved closer, slipping an arm around Tony's shoulders. "You flatter yourself, Stark."

Tony let his head fall back against Loki's arm. "Answer me."

Loki leaned closer, holding the side of Tony's face in his hand. Their eyes met for a moment before Loki closed his eyes and kissed Tony, just like that. The instant their lips made contact Tony let his eyes fall closed, and he let himself fall into this – whatever this was. In that moment, none of it mattered: the press, the devastation of New York, his problems with Pepper, the state of the company, the fact that the person he was kissing here was a homicidal maniac. All that mattered was how it felt, the physicality of it, the moment – being with someone different – an act new and familiar all at once.

Loki quickly moved the kiss to a passionate one, insistently seeking out Tony's tongue with his own. To Tony it felt hungry, desperate, as if Loki really _needed_ this. That was hardly surprising, and if Tony was honest with himself, he needed it too, more than he realised. He eagerly reciprocated, drawing Loki's lower lip into his mouth, sucking it, grazing over it with his teeth.

Tony stopped, but only to lead Loki over to the bedroom. Tony's head span, he had no idea what he was doing – this was madness. They fell onto the bed together, Loki lay half on top of him, meeting him with another fierce kiss, pressing himself down hard against Tony's thigh, bringing his own leg between Tony's. Tony could feel his groin throb at the contact with Loki's body, and wrapped his arms around the god, his hands grasping the leather and metal and armour, trying to push Loki off so that he would not have all the power here. But Loki was, of course, so much stronger than he looked and was having none of it, concentrating more on slipping a hand under Tony's shirt, cool fingers creeping up his side.

"Loki..." Tony breathed. "Neither of us is the submissive type... how is this going to work?"

"Quiet," Loki commanded him, kissing his way down Tony's neck.

"But if one of us is going to be on top," Tony went on, "I'm not saying it has to me, but it's not going to be you."

"Dull…" Loki laughed, and spoke between kisses, "...shallow..." He suddenly rolled onto his back pulling Tony on top of him. "If this will get you to put your mouth to better use."

Tony kissed him hungrily before pulling back to smile and reposition himself to straddle Loki, not sure where to start with all the layers of leather. Loki helped him, unfastening it at the sides, pulling open the layers as quickly as possible. "Can't you just make it disappear?" Tony asked.

"Mortals... so impatient..." Loki replied, finally pulling the last of the clothes off his upper body, discarding them with a series of thuds and clangs on the floor.

Tony did the same with his own shirt, which only took a second, and Loki's eyes were immediately caught by the arc reactor. Tony was used to that, of course, but Loki quickly moved on to desirously looking over the rest of Tony, running his hands up the billionaire's arms, taking in every detail of the muscles. Tony ran his hands up Loki's body, over his flat stomach, his somewhat visible ribs, to his chest. He was still godlike in appearance, even if a little under-nourished.

It had been years since Tony had been in this kind of situation with another man, but now he was with Loki he wanted to touch and taste every part of him all at once, and was slightly overwhelmed by the reality of the situation. He leaned down and kissed Loki's neck, his throat, and this earned an appreciative moan and a pull on Tony's hair.

They were both frenetic and unrefined as they pulled off their remaining clothes, hands everywhere, lost to the heat of the moment. Loki assaulted Tony with his mouth, leaving little kisses and bite marks all over him, wildly, like some kind of animal. Tony wanted to know every detail of Loki's body; every curve and undulation of the defined muscles on his chest and stomach, every touch that got a reaction out of him, everything that got him to moan in that gorgeous voice and say Tony's name... well, "Stark" would have to do for now.

Tony stayed on top of Loki – or, more accurately, Loki _let_ Tony stay on top of him, straddling him. Tony pressed his hips down, gasping as he felt his cock harden more against Loki's. Loki wrapped his long fingers around Tony's cock, stroking him slowly, stimulating the glistening tip with his thumb.

Tony did the same for Loki, a little surprised by how much he liked the feel of Loki's cock filling his hand, how much pleasure it brought Tony to move his hand up and down and make a _god_ gasp and moan in pleasure underneath him. Loki grasped Tony by the neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

Kissing was kind of an intimate act, and as such Tony was a little surprised that Loki was as interested in kissing Tony as he evidently was... not that he was complaining. Loki's tongue was agile and deft against his own, alternating between hard, ravenous pressure and light, tantalising touches. This close to Loki, Tony could smell him again, that unique, alluring collision of scents.

Loki tightly wrapped his arms around Tony, pulling their bodies impossibly close together as they kissed deeply, rutting against each other, melting into each other. Tony was just starting to relax, to focus on the sheer, raw pleasure of it, daring to imagine that Loki might let Tony _take him_ like this when out of nowhere Loki broke the kiss and rolled Tony onto his back, assertively positioning himself on top, between Tony's legs.

Tony hated himself for it, but his heart raced at the thrill of the danger. Loki was a force of nature, someone so much more powerful than himself, that he could never possibly control him, he could never trust him, and he could never be safe with him.

"Hey," he breathed, "I told you, I'm not the submissive type."

"I have no plans to take you by force, Tony," he said, with a smile. The use of his first name could almost have made Loki sound gentle, if Tony ignored literally everything else he was saying and doing. "No," Loki went on, thoughtfully, kissing his shoulder, up to his neck, "it will be much more satisfying when I take you because you _want_ me to, _beg_ me to..."

"Not gonna happen," Tony said confidently, though he couldn't quite keep the tremor out of his voice.

"We will see," Loki smirked. His hand returned to Tony's cock, holding it tightly in those slender, perfect fingers, moving up and down in fast strokes. Tony let out a moan; Loki knew exactly what he was doing, and in seconds the raw pleasure was back again, coursing through Tony's body.

Tony took a moment to fondle Loki, cupping his balls, exploring every detail of him, before giving Loki what he longed for, Tony's hand around him. "Stark," Loki breathed, his eyes closed, his voice low and quiet, "you have no idea how I need this, how long I have wanted this..." Tony watched him closely, his mind flickering with the question as to whether he was seeing a vulnerable side to Loki, the desire – the _need_ that he felt for physical intimacy, or whether it was all just Loki being manipulative.

But all thought was promptly extinguished as Loki increased the speed of his hand and bit hard into the skin just above Tony's collarbone. Tony took in a sharp breath at the pain, and just as he realised that Loki was getting close, he felt his own climax approaching. His fingers tangled in Loki's long, raven black hair, roughly pulling him in for another kiss. Loki kissed him hungrily once more, forcing his tongue into Tony's mouth. Tony had to break the kiss to draw breath as Loki quickly moved on to Tony's neck, his ear, scattering the skin with kisses and the occasional small bite. The pleasure built until Tony found himself writhing underneath Loki, gripping hard on his back, desperately pressing Loki's body against his own, needing this release, needing him.

In the end it was the sound of Loki's voice, that gorgeous, honeyed voice in Tony's ear, in a low growl, "Tony..." Tony took in a sharp breath as ecstasy tore through him, like a flash of blinding light. Loki worked his hand up and down Tony's cock, allowing him to ride out the orgasm until he was totally spent. Tony opened his eyes as Loki bucked his hips into Tony's hand and within a few seconds he got his own release. He moaned and threw his head back, long tendrils of his hair cascading down the sides of his face, and as Tony watched Loki through the haze of his own pleasure it struck him just how beautiful, how captivating Loki was.

Loki caught his breath and got off Tony to lie next to him, and for a moment they both just lay there, coming down from the pleasure. Tony expected this to be where things got difficult, he expected to regret it, to feel suddenly used and stupid – but none of that happened. For once, his mind stayed clear, as they lay there together in an eerily comfortable silence.

In occurred to Tony that maybe Loki had him under some sort of pseudo-mind-control, and that was why he felt the way he did. But as long as he _knew_ he was being mind-controlled – then he wasn't really. He smiled to himself, wondering whether he believed his own bullshit. Tony realised that it was probably just good old fashioned alcohol, and he would regret this _tomorrow_.

After a moment Tony reached over to get a tissue to clean himself off, glancing back at Loki to see the god watching him, his eyes only just open. Tony was not sure what to do at this point; he knew that it would be best to get Loki to leave, and surely it would be weird for him and Loki to... _cuddle_.

He lay back down on his side, his eyes roving over the sweep of Loki's body, all long limbs and angles. Loki moved to lie on his side, bringing himself close to Tony, and without thinking much about it Tony rested a hand on his chest, unable and unwilling to resist the chance to touch him again. His body was warmer than Tony expected it to be, knowing that Loki was a _Frost Giant_, whatever one of those was. Loki deftly ran his fingers up the inside of Tony's arm, and when he reached the man's shoulder he drew them closer together.

Without knowing why, without thinking about it, Tony wrapped his arm around Loki and kissed him, slowly, languidly, at first. Loki reciprocated passionately, his tongue slow and controlled, but no less agile than before, denoting no less desire. Loki shifted his weight, pushing Tony back, and moving slightly on top of him again, a low moan rising from his throat. Tony broke the kiss breathlessly. "Already?"

Loki broke into a smile and rested his forehead against Tony's. "You may not know this, Stark, but I do have something of a reputation."

"Oh?"

"Hmm..." Loki trailed his fingers over Tony's chest. "Apparently, I'm insatiable."

Tony grinned. "I like a challenge." Loki laughed, but Tony had to add, "But tonight – after everything we've done lately, all we've had to drink... I'd kind of prefer to just..."

"Lie here." Loki finished the sentence for him, and settled down again, an arm and leg draped over Tony, still. After a moment, Loki said, playfully, "Now who has _performance issues_?"

"Shut up," Tony mumbled, settling down on his back. His body still felt relaxed and tired, and all he wanted to was close his eyes in the silence of the room, hearing only the breathing of the man next to him. Perhaps it was the weeks of exhaustion, perhaps it was simply getting laid – but for one reason or another, within moments, Tony was sound asleep.

* * *

A/N: ...And that's why it's rated M.


	7. A Kind of Magic

**7: A Kind of Magic**

When Tony woke up the next morning, there were a few seconds of half-asleep peace – and then he remembered what he had done with Loki the night before, and a kind of panic rushed him back to consciousness. _You moron_, he told himself, _you absolute, absurd, reckless idiot_. He tensed and lifted his head up to see Loki dressed in his casual clothing and sat in a chair by the window, reading a book, seeming quite innocuous. Loki looked over at him and smiled wanly. "Morning, Stark."

Tony yawned, rubbed his eyes and sat, slightly disoriented. He had been deeply asleep and felt better rested on that morning than he had on any other morning for weeks. A good night's sleep was terrifyingly rare. There had been a few times, with Pepper, and now with Loki, of all people...

He did still have a hangover, however. A dull ache in his head, a feeling somewhere between nausea and ravenous hunger in his stomach. "Coffee," he mumbled, for Loki's information. Loki watched him from the chair as Tony pulled on his clothes, though Tony was not really comfortable being watched by him. To distract Loki, he asked, "What're you reading?"

Loki glanced down at the book in his hands. "Shakespeare. The complete works."

Tony stood to do up his jeans and looked over, seeing from the pages that Loki was around half way through it. He had forgotten he even had that. "You can borrow it if you want. I need coffee. A mug, or maybe a barrel. Possibly some kind of intravenous drip..."

Loki narrowed his eyes critically. "You have a worrying dependency on these substances. Alcohol and caffeine."

Tony opened the door to his room and stepped out. "I'm not dependent. It's just how humans are. You don't get it."

Loki put the book down and got up, picking up his coat and scarf, which Tony still had. "Oh, yeah, you can have that back." Loki nodded and wordlessly allowed himself to be led back downstairs, which was altogether unlike him.

* * *

"So what do you think of Shakespeare?" Tony tried to make some conversation with Loki as they helped to pile rubble from the former parking garage into a truck.

Loki replied, "Compelling."

Tony was unsure as to what to say to that. He had come to expect more verbose answers from Loki, but today, he seemed reluctant to say much of anything. It seemed weird to not talk to him. Changing the subject, he asked, "So do you people... sleep?"

"Of course."

_Jeez, this is like pulling teeth_. "But you were awake this morning, when I woke up, you looked like you had been for a while."

"Yes."

_Completely unsupervised in my damn apartment_, Tony thought to himself... though he had asked Jarvis whether Loki had done anything, and apparently he hadn't – apart from reading Shakespeare.

Tony raised the face plate of the Iron Man suit, and silently pressed him to elaborate. Loki sighed before grumbling, "Starve yourself for four months, Stark, and then see how well you sleep."

They spoke very little for the rest of the day, and Tony turned down the opportunity to go out in the city with Jane Foster, with whom he genuinely did get along pretty well. There was no particular reason for Tony to isolate himself in his apartment; it wasn't even that he was tired, exactly. But he was pre-occupied. It seemed a stupid waste so much time thinking about Loki, who perhaps had no further interest in him, no further _use_ for him. Or perhaps this was all one of Loki's games. Pretending to be indifferent, letting your quarry come to you: one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Tony made a snap decision, knowing that it was a bad decision at the time, and then _doing it anyway_. Tony still wanted Loki. And mind games or no mind games, Tony Stark always got what he wanted. He pulled open the fridge and took out several items, making a sandwich. He decided on chicken, for the protein – _do gods need protein_? Tony was good at a lot of things, but cooking was not one of them. Still, a sandwich, he could do.

On his way down to the apartment below, Tony changed his mind about what he was doing about twenty times, and when he finally arrived at the door outside Loki's room, he hesitated. He felt confident that this gesture would make Loki more cooperative, and it would probably make Loki feel as if he was in control, he had power. Let Loki believe that he had Tony doing whatever he wanted. But Tony was onto him.

Tony tentatively opened the door to the darkened room. Loki was in bed, and at first Tony wondered whether he was asleep, until he spoke up. "What is it, Stark?"

Tony crept into the room, closing the door behind him. He placed the plate on the bed next to Loki. "I brought you this," he said nonchalantly.

Loki propped himself up on his arm and looked up at him, wide-eyed. He then sat up and took the sandwich, devouring it within a couple of minutes. Tony couldn't help but look at him, as his torso was exposed and appeared, like everything else in the room, to be blue due to the light of Tony's arc reactor.

As soon as Loki was done, his eyes snapped back to Tony, as if he wanted to devour him. Tony stood up as if to leave, but he knew that would not really happen. Loki grabbed him by his belt and easily pulled him back to the bed. "Lie down," Loki ordered him.

"Hey, what did I say about orders? I make the rules here."

Loki smirked. "Fine, it's not an order, man of iron." Something in the way Loki recited the words led him to remember immediately that he was repeating Tony's own words to him, from a few days previously. "But I _recommend it in the strongest possible terms_."

Tony lay on his side, which Loki seemed reasonably satisfied with, wrapping those long, lean arms around him and pulling him close. Tony tentatively rested his hand on the bare, cool skin of Loki's back. "Are you going to tell me why you're pissed off with me? Or is it all just one of your exercises in manipulation?"

"Neither," Loki murmured. "I was tired – and hungry. This morning, today... do you know what it's like, Stark, to just be _exhausted?_ For it to weigh on you, constantly, day after day?"

Tony met his eyes, feeling suddenly exposed and vulnerable. "I know exactly what that's like," he said, honestly. He suddenly felt as if he should have brought Loki more food, but wasn't about to say that. That was absurd; he shouldn't have brought Loki _any_ food. _Remember that_.

Loki pulled the blanket over the two of them, and with only a little encouragement he had Tony pulling his t-shirt and long-sleeved under-shirt off over his head. The atmosphere was strangely relaxed, as if they did this all the time, and Tony ignored the small voice in the back of his mind saying _this is insane_. Having removed his shirt, Tony saw Loki bathed more brightly in the blue light, staring intently at the arc reactor. He trailed fingers over it, circling the edge, studying it. That made Tony a little anxious; the god was probably strong enough to pull the damn thing out and kill him without even trying particularly hard. But Loki simply said, "Tell me how you came to acquire this."

When after a few seconds Tony didn't say anything, Loki made eye contact once more. Tony wasn't sure what Loki already knew, or how this might be used against him in the future – but he did know that Loki had probably already read about it on the internet. So for Loki to ask him meant not just that he wanted to know, but that he specifically _wanted_ _Tony to tell him_. Loki wanted them to have a conversation, he wanted Tony to share something about himself with Loki as means of developing some kind of a bond between them. Tony wasn't sure how he felt about that happening, but he figured that as long as he knew to suspect Loki of being manipulative, there would be no harm in telling him what he already knew.

So Tony told him everything. He recounted the whole story of his time in Afghanistan, the shrapnel, all that he had done with Yinsen – how the arc reactor was keeping him alive. Loki lay at his side, quietly listening throughout, occasionally glancing down at the arc reactor, but mostly watching Tony's face carefully. Tony always felt as if he was being studied whenever he was with Loki, analysed, assessed.

Loki ran his fingers through Tony's hair and down the side of his neck, gently, affectionately. "You are exceptionally resilient," he said, absently.

"Oh, thanks," Tony replied. "What a compliment. You're... exceptionally menacing."

Loki simply laughed in the unique way he had, smiling widely, a few lines appearing at the corners of his eyes, as if he was making a point about just how _un_menacing he could look. There was something incredibly endearing about the way he looked when he was happy. Perhaps it was just that he was happy so infrequently that it felt as if it really mattered.

In the time they had been lying there together, either Loki had got a little warmer, or Tony had just become accustomed to the feel of him. Sliding a hand around to Loki's back, Tony pulled him closer, leaning in and kissing him, the atmosphere was one of relaxed playfulness; they could take their time, explore each other, basically do whatever the hell they wanted. Tony wanted him, of course, but unlike yesterday, tonight he was in no hurry.

Loki pushed him by the shoulder and Tony let Loki get on top and pull the blanket up over them, scattering kisses over Tony's cheek, down his neck. Loki smiled impishly and ducked underneath the blanket so Tony could no longer see him, at which point Loki started to kiss him and touch him at random, those cool fingers dancing over Tony's skin, unpredictably, surprising him... _God of Mischief, indeed_. Tony allowed himself a smile, knowing this would be fun – and damn, how Tony needed to have some _fun_.

There was something unexpectedly exciting about not being able to see Loki – he was unpredictable at the best of times, and this only added to the thrill of it. Tony felt underneath the blanket, finding Loki's shoulders, guiding him downward. Loki's fingers were at Tony's belt then, unfastening his pants, then easing them down. Tony raised his hips so that Loki could pull his jeans off, and Loki took his underwear, too. "Now who's impatient?" Tony mumbled, though Loki apparently ignored him, kissing his way up Tony's thigh. "Fuck..." Tony breathed, but Loki continued upward. Tony was hard by this point, aching to be touched, but Loki wouldn't give it to him. Tony's hand found the top of his head and tried to push him down, and Loki promptly responded by biting into the skin over Tony's hip, and laughing. Tony laughed as well, in spite of himself, feeling Loki make his way up his body, appearing from underneath the blanket.

It became obvious that he had taken his pants of at some point too, and Tony wasn't about to question when or how; he didn't care. They exchanged a glance as Loki pressed himself down, catching Tony's lips in a kiss.

Loki stayed on top, rolling his hips against Tony, one hand planted firmly by Tony's head, the other on his chest, teasing a nipple between his fingers. Tony pushed Loki gently by the shoulder to get off him, and then pushed him hard – but the only way that would happen would be if Loki allowed it. He finally did, and they ended up side by side, stroking each other, before Tony let his hand wander further down, between Loki's legs. Tony reached between and held one cheek of Loki's firm ass in his hand, trailing his fingers down towards his hole.

Loki met his eyes fiercely, just daring Tony to proceed. Tony did so, keeping eye-contact all the time, teasing at the entrance, and Loki cracked a smile and rolled onto his back, letting his legs fall open, which seemed way too submissive for him... Until Loki took Tony's hand in his own, and with a faint glimmer of golden light he conjured a substance: lube, which took Tony by surprise a little.

"Magic," Loki said simply, with a smile. _Fucking magic_. Loki guided Tony's hand downward; ah, not submissive at all – wanton. Tony slipped one finger inside Loki, to the second knuckle, causing Loki's eyes to fall closed. Tony leaned down and kissed him as he prepared him, slipping in another finger, stretching him, reaching as far as the bundle of nerves inside that caused Loki to break their kiss with a gasp, arching his back. Being able to reduce a _god_ to this, knowing how much Loki wanted him, was really one hell of an ego trip.

Loki conjured some more lube and spread it liberally over Tony's cock, his hand sliding quickly and easily over him – and the feeling was incredible; too good – wiping out all the patience Tony had. He made to get on top of Loki, but he pushed him back. "Lie down," Loki ordered.

"You lie down," Tony replied, so Loki just pushed him harder, and before Tony knew it he was on his back, Loki climbing on top of him, one toned, slender leg each side of him. "Okay," Tony conceded, "this works too..." He wanted to have Loki, right _now_, and he didn't care how.

Loki bit his lip and guided Tony to his entrance. Tony could feel that the ring of muscle there was still pretty tight as Loki gradually lowered himself further, tipping his head back. _Impatient_. As Loki eased himself down onto Tony's cock, Tony breath caught in his throat at the sensation. Loki's entrance was tight around him, sliding down his length, and Tony reeled from the feeling of being enveloped, consumed by the warmth of him. A smile broke over Loki's face; deep, smug satisfaction, like the cat who got the cream. Loki rocked his hips slowly, his eyes closed, apparently giving himself over completely to the pleasure he was feeling. Tony moved in time with Loki, holding him by his waist, thrusting his hips up to meet him, soon getting into a rhythm. Loki kept control of the pace though – _as if he thought he was in charge here_.

After a few minutes Loki broke the momentum, allowing them both to catch their breath, and Tony wanted this to last longer just as much as Loki did. Loki's heavily lidded blue-green eyes explored Tony's body with a ravenous, intense desire, drinking in every detail. He lowered himself down to lie on top of Tony, and Tony somehow knew exactly what Loki wanted. They kissed as Tony's hand found Loki's cock, inspiring a moan in him. Tony smirked into the kiss. Loki wanted to use Tony for his own pleasure, but Tony still had the power to control just when and how Loki got it.

They began to move together again, though at this angle it was much easier for Tony to control the movement and the pace than it was for Loki. Tony could see it on Loki's face and feel from the way that Loki tightened around him that he was getting close, but at that moment Tony slowed down, making him wait. Loki whimpered involuntarily – and Tony couldn't help but smile. He was making himself wait too, but it was _so_ worth it. "Do not tease me, Stark," Loki whispered in Tony's ear, running his fingers through Tony's hair, pulling it hard.

Tony replied, "Oh, you love to get everything you want when you want it. Well, so do I. I'm not your toy." Tony gripped Loki's hip hard with his free hand, working his cock with the other, thrusting inside him once more. Loki groaned and Tony went on, "And what I want, is to know just how much you want me."

"You know I want you," Loki replied quickly. "Faster," he ordered.

Tony slowed down and brought his lips to Loki's ear, pulling it between his teeth. "Say please," he whispered.

Loki gripped hard on Tony's arm, inspiring a flash of pain, and Tony accepted that, enjoyed it even; it meant Loki wanted him, needed him. "Faster, _now_," Loki growled, but Tony continued to move slowly, allowing himself to relish feeling every inch of Loki in exquisite detail, as he slid in and out of him, getting increasingly close to the edge himself. Loki was on top, but he still wanted to have it done _to_ him, and they both knew it. Loki growled into his ear, "Do as I say, mortal."

"No," Tony replied, playfully, holding Loki's ass and moving slowly. He needed to get off soon, but so did Loki, and finally the god gave in, in what was barely even a whisper, breathing, "_please_."

Finally, Tony eagerly complied, eliciting moans from both of them. From then on there were no more games, just the frenetic movement, the ecstasy of exertion that came from the two of them moving in unison together, Tony getting deep inside Loki with every thrust, feeling him spasm and tighten around him.

Tony had no desire to stop Loki again, even if he had dared. Loki's body tensed and his breath came in short, shallow gasps as his eyes rolled back and he shook, spilling his come on Tony. Tony came almost immediately after, sliding in to the hilt and gripping Loki's ass hard as his cock throbbed inside him, the pleasure radiating out through his body. "Fuck, Loki..."

They both took a moment to catch their breath before Loki eased himself off Tony and lay down beside him, one slender arm across his chest.

Loki traced his fingers over Tony's bicep and Tony felt a sudden pain there. He looked to see dark marks on his arm where Loki had gripped him, hard, and knew that they would leave bruises. He took a sort of pleasure from that – that Loki would have left his mark on him, a mark of the effect that Tony had on him. He turned to look at Loki, realising from the god's expression that he was thinking much the same thing. "Few get away with reducing me to begging," Loki told him. "I will have my revenge," he added, with a playful smirk.

Tony grinned. "I only got you to say please once. That's not _begging_. When I make you beg, you'll know it."

Loki laughed, with a genuine smile. "Is that so?"

"It's a promise."

"I look forward to it," Loki replied – and though his tone was sarcastic and disbelieving, he looked happier than Tony had ever seen him before. Tony's heart leapt at the knowledge that Loki was certainly, at least, looking forward to Tony _trying_ it. As much as Loki revelled in control, in power, he wanted acquiring it to be a challenge. He didn't want someone to submit passively to his every whim, at least, not immediately.

Only then did reality truly sink in for Tony: he just _fucked_ Loki – god, supervillain, murderer. No one but Tony Stark would do something that insane, that dangerous, that _fantastic_.

For a moment they were quiet, and it was strangely comfortable, as it had been the previous day. Tony moved around so that they were lying facing each other, their arms around each other, faces mere inches apart.

"Out of interest," Tony said quickly, "what's your deal? Are you gay? Bisexual?"

Loki laughed derisively. "And to think, Thor could not understand why I thought myself above your race. I care not for your foolish, narrow categorisations. _You_, Stark," he licked his lips, "are pleasing to look at, extraordinarily intelligent, and you amuse me. That is what attracts me to you."

Tony nodded, and could not suppress a smile. "I _amuse_ you?"

Loki broke into a wide smile, looking at Tony with what certainly appeared to be a certain fondness. "You have wit," he said.

There was a strange pause; not quite a comfortable silence, but not an awkward silence either. "I suppose I'm in the same boat," Tony said, getting back to the subject at hand. "I generally only like girls, but, you know, I don't like to rule anything out."

"How enlightened you are," he replied, sarcastically.

"We do have a word for that."

"_Oh good_."

Tony grinned, he was coming to enjoy Loki's dry sense of humour. "Pansexual. Look it up."

Loki looked vaguely around the room, and Tony had no idea what he was looking for until he spoke. "Jarvis?" Tony smiled; even the god had some bizarre instinct to look _up_ to speak to Jarvis, as if the computer were a god too.

Loki broke into a grin when the computer responded with "How may I help you, sir?"

"Tell me what _pansexual_ means." Jarvis explained, and Loki shrugged. "I disagree," he ran a hand down Tony's chest, grazing past the arc reactor, "It is not the case that I do not care about your gender. I am very much attracted to the masculinity of you," he wrapped his fingers around Tony's muscled arm, and bit his lip, "and indeed, it seems quite central to who you are. But as I say," he said smoothly, "your categorisations matter not to me. We do not bother with such things in Asgard."

Loki then looked at Tony with a curious smile. "Your computer, do you think it gets jealous?"

Tony laughed and shook his head. "Jarvis is a machine. He doesn't experience jealousy – do you?"

"No sir," Jarvis responded, "I am above such base emotions."

Loki smiled gleefully. "Oh, he sounds jealous to me."

Tony laughed, unsure whether listening to two non-human entities with snarky British accents spar was hilarious or just _weird_.

"I'm going to have a shower," Tony told him, stretching, getting out of bed.

"Oh," Loki replied, "and you just assume that you have permission to use my shower?"

Tony scoffed. "It's not _your_ shower. I own the building and all the showers in it."

"Touche," Loki replied.

"You're welcome to join me."

Loki licked his lips and broke into a grin.


	8. Overdramatics

**8: Overdramatics**

Tony made sure he was back at his apartment the next morning in time for the SHIELD meeting which was scheduled. Everyone was essentially taking a day off from the chaos to make better, more coherent plans for the future. Tony hadn't had enough sleep, but for an entirely different reason from usual, a reason he really didn't mind. He went about his morning in what he could only describe as a _good mood_, something so unfamiliar that it took him a while to realise that that was what it actually was. Harbouring a fugitive had some unexpected perks, that was for sure...

Tony was listening to _All Along the Watchtower_ at the time that Director Fury himself elected to grace Stark Tower with his presence, in the company of Agent Hill.

"Do you mind if we come in?" Fury asked.

"Not at all," Tony replied. "Mind if I leave?"

Fury gave him a withering look and strolled in as if he owned the place, taking a seat on the couch, Maria joining him.

Most of the agenda was pretty tedious; plans for what else Loki could do in New York, discussions of how the public was reacting to them. But at the end of the meeting came a surprising proposition from Fury. "Stark, you remember that agent Loki shot on Friday, five days ago?"

"Loki didn't shoot him," Tony said, before he could stop himself. "The kid basically shot himself."

Fury ignored him. "You've invited him over."

"Oh have I?" Tony replied, sarcastically. "I hope I was polite." These people were taking some serious liberties with him... _since when did people feel like they could treat Tony Stark this way?_ People were supposed to do as _he_ told them...

"Just have a few drinks with him. We're trying to persuade him not to do something stupid. Plenty of newspapers want to buy his story: inside scoop on what Loki is really like, that sort of crap."

Tony laughed. "Jeez, if they're that interested _I'll_ tell them what Loki's really like. It's a five word story: he's out of his mind. End of. Besides," Tony went on, "Isn't it some kind of treason for SHIELD agents to go around talking to journalists?"

"In a manner of speaking," Fury replied, clearly angry about it. "But it's not technically classified data. I really don't want to have to forcibly detain one of my own people to prevent it. So play nice, let him have his party. That's all he wants."

"Now it's a _party_?" Tony replied.

"I thought you liked parties," Agent Hill interjected. "And what's the worst that could happen?"

"Oh, well," Tony answered casually, "you know, scuff marks on the floor, broken windows, collapsed ceilings, fire, explosions, multitudes fleeing in terror. But that was just one night in Malibu that got a little out of hand. It's highly unlikely to happen twice."

Fury leaned forward and gave him a silent stare. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you, Stark, Loki is not invited."

"Of course not," Tony replied. "Why would I think he was?"

"You tell me," Fury retorted. Tony kept his face neutral; there was no way that Fury could know what was going on. Although, plenty of SHIELD agents had seen Tony and Loki talking, and they all made their reports, the collected information making its way back to the director. _Fury sees much, for a man with one eye_, Tony thought to himself. Additionally, Fury knew that Tony was generally reckless. Reckless enough to befriend their enemy – perhaps even reckless enough to sleep with him...

* * *

Tony spent the rest of his day off doing what he did best; making things, working on new technologies, going over what he had on the Extremis project. Nano-technology wasn't his thing, though it was steadily _becoming_ his thing. With enough time, he could replicate the results that his old friend Maya Hansen had achieved... though of course Tony had the slight problem of not having anyone other than himself to experiment on.

He tried not to think about Loki, of course, but that was easier said than done. He couldn't stop thinking about the previous night: Loki's lithe body, the sounds he made, the way it felt to thrust into him, the way his face looked when he came...

Tony took a sharp, deep breath and sat back in his chair. Maybe he should have a cold shower, or take care of this himself... but no. Loki was just downstairs, probably on his own, probably thinking about Tony as much as Tony was thinking about him... _Thinking about ways to exploit you_, what was left of his rationality reminded him.

It was late into the afternoon by this point; Loki would be eating soon, anyway. Tony didn't trust himself to go back down there and eat with him, just in case Thor was there and Tony couldn't hide the way he would probably look at Loki right now...

So Tony waited. He let a few hours pass, listening to music, eating a pizza himself, drinking a couple beers, then a couple more, then some scotch, and then there was kind of a scene missing and he found himself in the enclosed metal stairwell and entering the apartment.

It was dark and deserted, so Tony stepped out, hitting his leg on the kitchen counter. "Dammit..." he mumbled under his breath, taking a moment in the kitchen to drink a glass of water, though that was unlikely to make much difference by this point.

He made his way over to Loki's room, the door of which was closed. As Tony stood there, however, the handle turned itself, and the door slowly swung open to reveal the darkened room within. That should be really creepy. _Should_ be...

Tony's attention was immediately caught by Loki's silhouette as he stood by the window. Calmly entering the room and pushing the door closed behind him, Tony let his eyes adjust to the light. Then, he could see that Loki was dressed down again, in black pants and a sweater, presumably green again, but it was hard to tell.

Before Tony had had Loki, he would have described his attraction to the man as an insouciant curiosity. But Loki was addictive; the more Tony had, the more he wanted, and his desire had now intensified into something much deeper, more primal, more insistent.

Tony was not aware of the fact that Loki felt precisely the same way towards him. Loki had been alone for such a long time, so longed for the touch of another, that now he had experienced it, the need for more caused him to slide, helplessly, into the depths of his own desire. And the sexual voracity of the God of Mischief ran deep; it was an incorrigible, insatiable force over which Loki rather lacked control. It was all he could do to hold himself back, half turning round to smile amiably at Tony, at this man who so drew him in, who had given him the pleasure that he had needed more than he had known.

Tony was sorely tempted to just jump him, grab him by his clothes, pull him by the hair and throw him onto the bed – and he may yet do that. But it was by his desire that Loki could control him, and Tony was not keen on being controlled. So he walked casually over to the god and embraced him from behind. Loki smirked as Tony pressed his face against the back of Loki's shoulder, not quite tall enough to rest his head there.

There was a calm moment in which they remained in the silent embrace, gazing out over the twinkling city. Loki spoke quietly and with an attempt at control, but his excitement could be heard in every syllable. "I know how you lust after me, mortal."

Tony smirked against Loki's neck, a surge of arousal making itself felt in his groin. "You're right," he admitted, even more uninhibited than usual from the alcohol. "I want you more than I know how to say." He pressed his crotch against Loki's ass, drawing out a soft sound of anticipation.

"Tell me," Loki ordered.

"So many things at once... I want to take you again, I want to throw you down on the bed, push you down into the mattress," he took a deep shuddering breath, rocking his hips against Loki, "I want to _fuck_ you. And I want you to love it."

Loki easily span himself around within Tony's arms, bringing his arms around his neck, pressing his forehead against Tony's. Loki's fingers wandered through Tony's hair, sharply pulling it. Tony thought to himself that he should get a haircut, so Loki couldn't do that. "You will not make me beg again, Stark. And if you try, I will destroy you."

Tony laughed. "You'd kill me for that?"

Loki stared hard at Tony. "That is not what I meant by _destroy_."

Tony's breath caught in his throat. Loki was as coldly menacing as ever, outwardly calm, but internally roiling with an unimaginable sort of anger. Tony had no doubt that Loki was capable of terrible violence, and he reminded himself again how stupid and dangerous it was to be alone with him at all, nevermind getting himself mixed up with Loki sexually, which might just be the most insane thing that Tony had ever done. That did nothing to lessen Tony's excitement – in fact, it heightened it.

Loki moved closer, holding Tony firmly in place. Loki's lips grazed over his, giving teasing hints at kisses, but not quite following through with it. "Do whatever you want," Loki said, his breath dancing over Tony's lips. "Whatever your desire. You cannot hurt me."

Tony took in a sharp breath, very much distracted by Loki's chaste non-kisses. All Tony wanted in that second was to kiss him already, all this teasing, it was infuriating. "As long as you don't hurt me," he replied.

"I will try," came the reply, and fuck it, that was good enough.

Loki finally released his grip on Tony and let Tony kiss him, and the tension _snapped_. Tony kissed him roughly, his body alive with desire. Perhaps Loki was surprised, perhaps he was playing along, but in the next second Tony had him pressed against the window, gasping for breath between kisses as Tony's hands quickly made their way over his body, pulling up his sweater.

Loki willingly pulled the sweater off over his own head, and Tony did the same with his shirt, and seemingly in the same instant their arms were around each other. Tony buried his face in the crook of Loki's neck, planting some kisses there, soon moving onto bites, marking that perfect alabaster skin, marking Loki as _his._

It was cool in the room and Tony could feel goosebumps rising on his skin, and being pressed against Loki wasn't actually helping that any. Tony dragged him over towards the bed and roughly pushed him onto it, clambering on top of him.

Tony lost his balance, though Loki caught him by the shoulder, easily holding him up. "Are you intoxicated?" Loki asked, disapprovingly.

"You think I'd do this if I was sober?" Tony scoffed, though that made Loki look rather disappointed. "I would," Tony assured him, "probably. I don't know. Does it matter?"

Loki appeared thoughtful, running his hand down Tony's arm, which caused him to flinch a little when Loki touched the part he had bruised the day before. He met Tony's eyes without saying anything, and pulled him in roughly for a kiss, which quickly got Tony back in the mood, causing him to forget about anything else, preventing him from ever even asking himself _why_ Loki would want to do it this way.

Loki was rough with him in return, practically tearing Tony's jeans off him, the snapping of stitches somewhere barely audible over their breathing. Loki pinned Tony to the bed, assaulting his body with his mouth, taking a nipple into his mouth and biting it.

"Hey, I plan to keep those," Tony mumbled, though Loki ignored him completely – and then Tony realised that Loki was just trying to get a reaction. Tony tangled his fingers in Loki's hair and pulled hard, causing him to whimper a little.

In truth, Loki was far, far stronger than him, but he did a good job of pretending that Tony was eventually able to overpower him, able to push him onto his back. Tony pushed Loki's legs as far apart as possible, and in that instant Loki brought his hand to Tony's cock, conjuring some lube, spreading it over him.

"Do just as you promised," Loki breathed, "take me." Tony looked at him questioningly – he had not been prepared. "Now." Loki commanded, raising his voice almost to a shout. Tony acquiesced, pushing himself against Loki's entrance. He could feel the resistance, so gave Loki a second to relax, but Loki insisted, "No mortal can harm me, do as I say."

Tony did as he was asked, forcing himself inside and causing Loki to cry out in a sound that could have been pain or pleasure, but was most likely both. Tony did not hesitate any longer, moving further inside Loki. Loki bit his lip hard, slamming his fist against the mattress. "Am I hurting you?" Tony asked.

"No," came Loki's breathy reply. "Try harder."

Tony held Loki down and got into a rhythm, pushing Loki into the mattress. A loud moan escaped Loki as he closed his eyes, throwing his head back, raising his hips. Tony kept his eyes on the god's face, and he looked like he was in absolute heaven. Tony had always got off on that, on giving other people pleasure, making them scream his name. From the way Loki moaned and gasped it seemed he liked it rough, at least, he did at that time, so that was what Tony gave him: hard, aggressive thrusts that made the bed shake underneath them.

"Stark," Loki said through gritted teeth. Tony paused, meeting his eyes. "If you tell anyone what I let you do to me..."

"I won't," Tony replied, breathlessly, truthfully.

Tony resumed his pace, moving in and out of Loki in long, deep thrusts. Loki gripped hard on his shoulder, and looked him in the eyes again. "Fuck me." Tony's breath caught in his throat when he heard Loki say that, with such a tone of longing. "Fuck me, Tony," he ordered.

Tony complied, giving himself to Loki harder and faster than before, possessing him, claiming Loki as his. "Loki," he mumbled, overcome with a sudden urge to talk, "you love this, don't you?"

Loki did not give Tony the satisfaction of a verbal answer in the affirmative, but he wrapped his hand around himself, touching himself as the sound of Tony's voice filled his ears, tightening his grip on Tony's shoulder, pulling him down closer. "Harder..." Loki breathed, "Use all your strength, hold nothing back."

Tony leaned down, closer above Loki, and Loki wrapped his long legs around Tony's waist, letting Tony get even deeper into him as he resumed his hard, unforgiving pace. There was something extremely thrilling for Tony about having the freedom to do whatever he wanted, knowing that he couldn't hurt Loki; it was primal, exhilarating - liberating. Looking down at Loki, his eyes closed, his mouth hanging open, Tony spoke again, "For all your power, you love getting fucked like this..."

Loki brought his hand up to pull at Tony's hair, raising his head to bite Tony's ear, kissing him briefly. Loki was, evidently, incredibly flexible, and Tony paused for a second to hook his elbow around Loki's knee, pulling his leg higher so that Tony could go as deep as possible, Loki's body tightening around him. Loki swore and let himself fall back biting his lip, still touching himself and gripping hard on Tony's shoulder.

Tony revelled in the effect he was having on Loki and felt the hot tightness of his orgasm building in the pit of his stomach and in his balls. He went on, "You're a god and yet you –" Tony took in a sharp gasp, "here you are, writhing and moaning underneath me, you need it..." Loki moaned loudly, arching his back, shaking, his pale skin shining with a fine layer of sweat. Tony was tortuously close now, "Come," he ordered Loki, breathlessly, "come." Loki dug his nails into Tony's back and tensed, and with a loud moan he did come, and Tony felt Loki clench around him, the wet heat on his stomach. Lost in his own pleasure Tony rode Loki through his orgasm, drawing it out. He moaned as his own climax hit him with sudden force, and he collapsed on top of Loki as it tore through his body, shaking, panting.

Still breathless and trembling, Tony raised himself up to get off Loki, and Loki struck him hard across the face, making him see stars, very nearly knocking him off balance. "What the hell..." Tony mumbled.

"Do not speak to me that way again," Loki commanded, with a tone of genuine anger, tempered more than a little by his breathlessness, and how his face was flushed with excitement.

Tony shook his head and withdrew, letting the satisfaction of the exertion overwhelm him, moving to lie next to Loki, looking through half-closed eyes at the drops of come on Loki's body. "You seemed pretty into it at the time," he said, with a smile.

Loki clenched his jaw and turned to study Tony. "I _permitted it_ because I did not want you to stop what you were doing." He breathed deeply, closed his eyes and settled himself into a more comfortable position, saying blithely, "In future, I will not be so lenient. I never give more than one warning."

Tony laughed and fell onto his back. "You know, most people cuddle after sex, but hey, threats of violence, that works too."

Loki rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm around Tony. "Why not have both?"

"Oh, god..." Tony said absently. "What the hell have I let myself in for?" Loki chuckled and laid his head on Tony's chest, staying still for a few minutes.

Tony yawned; he didn't usually make much conversation after sex, but... "You didn't hit me yesterday," Tony pointed out. "And I made you beg yesterday."

"That was _yesterday_," Loki replied, lazily. "And you did not _make_ me beg. I chose to indulge your desires for your satisfaction."

Tony scoffed. "Really? 'Cause it sounded like you _needed it_ to me..." Loki did not answer, so after some time Tony asked. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," he replied, sounding almost disappointed.

Tony scoffed. "If you were a human, you wouldn't be able to walk for a week..."

Loki smiled, kissed Tony's chest, and replied, "I am not a human."

_There are no men like you_, Tony thought, reminded of Loki's Stuttgart speech, not that he was about to give Loki the thrill of hearing Tony say that.

After that Loki remained still and quiet for some time, gazing at the arc reactor, trailing his fingers over it, around it. It still made Tony a little anxious, but it definitely didn't seem like Loki had any plans to kill him; Loki liked him, at least, for now. After a while, Tony said, "You're fascinated by that, aren't you?"

"I am fascinated by you," Loki replied. "You built this machine in a cave, from almost nothing."

"Well, not _this_ one, but the original, yeah."

"You have an astounding determination to stay alive," he said with a smile, "and yet you endanger your life in such extraordinary ways, it seems, just for pleasure."

"_Just_ for pleasure?" Tony retorted. "Pleasure seems like a pretty good motivation."

Loki laughed and sat up, stretching, raising his arms over his head, flexing his muscles. He turned back to look at Tony, only to find that Tony was studying him closely. Tony asked, "What exactly is it that you want from me, Loki?"

Loki leaned down and kissed him. "Pleasure," he smiled. "And I told you: I like you."

"Don't give me that," Tony retorted, surprised by the edge of anger in his own voice. "I know you're using me."

Loki's face fell and he pulled back to lie down, and Tony could practically _see_ Loki withdrawing into himself. "You may go now," he said, shortly.

"Come on," Tony replied, "don't be weird. I kinda like sleeping here. It's different."

"Well," Loki rolled over to face away from Tony and pulled the covers over himself. "Do not bother me."

"Bother you..." Tony repeated. "Jeez. You're really touchy, you know that? You're impossible."

"You would be too," Loki said quietly, almost too quietly for Tony to hear, "if you had been though what I have been through."

Tony sighed and moved closer, resting his hand on Loki's shoulder, fighting the urge to mention what Tony himself and the people of New York had _been through_ because of Loki. There was a large part of Tony that felt that Loki deserved to be punished, to suffer, to pay for what he'd done – but it was not as simple as that...

Loki remained silent, so Tony asked, "You're not going to cry, are you?" Loki did not answer, but he tensed, curling himself up into a tighter ball, and he took a deep, uneven breath. Tony lay there in silence, gently rubbing Loki's back, not sure whether he was comforting him, or just trying to prevent him from becoming violent.

After a moment, Loki turned back to face him. "Do you remember when I told you that I could kill you, and use that to facilitate my escape?" Loki asked.

"How could I forget?" Tony scoffed. "I think that was the moment I realised that I was kinda into you. But you're not gonna do that."

"No..." Loki said, softly.

"You have nowhere to go."

"More than that," Loki replied, "the Other made me a promise, that if I failed them..." he trailed off, glancing furtively to the window as if they may appear. "I expect them to to come for me." After a pause, he added, "This is the only place on Midgard that I am safe."

"Safe..." Tony repeated, thinking. It had occurred to Tony that the Chitauri might come back for him as well; he had sent them a nuke after all... "Let's not think about that," Tony said, wearily, pushing that to the back of his mind where it belonged and pulling Loki in for a kiss.


	9. Secrets Are Daily Trouble

**9: Secrets Are Daily Trouble**

Tony was dreaming. Usually, he would have nightmares, or not sleep well enough for dreams at all. The details of the dream were a blur. He was in bed with Loki; that was all that mattered. He could clearly see, in his mind, Loki break into a wide smile which reached his eyes. Brooding, intimidating Loki was sexy as hell, as was _craving subjugation_ Loki, but Tony was at his happiest when Loki was happy.

Tony smiled in his sleep as Loki softly rested his hand on the side of the man's head, impelling him to stay asleep. Loki took a moment to look lasciviously over Tony's body, licking his lips and feeling that he would never be able to drink his fill of this visage. _Iron Man_. Everything about his appearance clearly evinced strength, as one would expect from someone who could forge metal, who worked not only with his brilliant mind, but physically, with his hands. He was not like the others.

Loki unhurriedly worked his way over Tony's body, ghosting his fingers over every muscle, planting kisses on his skin, tasting him, clean from the shower he had taken before finally falling asleep next to Loki. To Loki he seemed to radiate warmth, and his breathing quickened a little, even in his sleep. Perhaps he would remain asleep all the while, perhaps Loki would do this and he would never even _know_. With a mischievous smirk Loki positioned himself between Tony's legs.

Tony was getting hard, his body responding to Loki's touch. Loki gave him more, taking Tony's cock in his hand and bringing his lips to the head, kissing him, just softly, at first. Tony made a soft sound in his sleep, and instinctively raised his hips. Loki moved slowly, gradually increasing Tony's pleasure without waking him, surreptitiously assimilating himself into whatever dream Tony was probably having by this point.

Taking his time, Loki explored every detail of Tony with his tongue, before taking him deeply into his mouth, slowly drawing back, only to take him again. Tony stirred, squirming a little, and Loki knew that he would wake up at any moment. That was fine, Loki decided: he wanted Tony to see what he was doing for him. Loki let the taste of Tony fill his mouth, sucking harder, eagerly taking him deeper.

Dreams blended seamlessly with reality, at first. Tony was convinced that he was having the most vivid, torrid dream in a long time, imagining Loki's mouth hot and wet around him, the feeling so scintillating, so real–

Tony gasped as his eyes flew open, and he looked down to see Loki's head bobbing up and down on his cock, dishevelled black hair trailing down onto him. Loki knew that Tony was awake, though he made no change to what he was doing until he naturally felt like pausing, brazenly meeting Tony's eyes.

"I've always known," Tony mumbled, "that there had to be a better way to start the day than by waking up."

Loki smiled briefly before taking Tony in his mouth again, moving slowly, sensually. Tony let his head fall back on the pillow and closed his eyes, lying there for several minutes, letting Loki and his _silver tongue_ do their work. If Tony could just push out of his mind that Loki was insane and dangerous then this would be the most relaxing thing in the world...

Tony let a moan escape him as Loki took him as far as he could, to the back of his throat, slowly pulling back. "Keep doing that..." Tony said, and Loki did keep doing it, moving up and down steadily. Loki moaned around him and Tony could feel the vibration of it, only realising then that Loki was touching himself – he was really _enjoying_ doing this – and that just made it even hotter.

Tony's breathing became heavy and he thrust his hips upward into Loki's mouth, with increasing speed and decreasing control, and Loki hummed around him again, holding Tony's hip tightly with his free hand, fingers digging into his skin. Tony tangled his hands in Loki's hair, fighting the urge to throw his head back by instead looking down, watching his cock disappear into Loki's mouth.

"Fuck," he gasped, feeling a sharp increase in pleasure, realising suddenly that he was close as Loki enthusiastically kept up his pace. Tony's fingers clenched in Loki's hair and before he could say anything his climax hit him, tearing through him. Loki slowed but did not stop, drawing out every last bit of pleasure, swallowing all Tony had to give him.

Loki raised himself up and looked up at Tony. "You could have warned me," he said strictly, though a smile played across his face.

"I wish I could say I was sorry," Tony replied, catching his breath, "but I thought you could probably tell, anyway..."

Loki moved up the bed to lie beside him, stretching his arms back behind his head. He was soft, so... "You got off on that," Tony said, knowingly.

"I would not do it if I didn't," Loki replied, simply.

Tony allowed himself a couple of minutes to lie there, wishing it didn't have to end, before he asked Jarvis for the time. "Dammit," he mumbled when the answer came, hauling himself out of bed. "We have things to do," he told Loki. Loki kept his eyes closed, pulling the blanket round himself, curling up in bed. "Come on, get up," Tony hit him on the shoulder. "You've got 15 minutes."

"An eternity," Loki replied, lazily.

* * *

Loki was _late for work_, as it were, Thor apologising for him. "There's nothing to apologise for," Tony assured him, though Tony immediately realised he should shut up and not say things like that. Tony had no idea what Thor's reaction would be to someone defiling his precious little brother, so said nothing just in case Thor might challenge Tony to a duel to defend Loki's honour or something insane like that. That would be kind of hilarious, but still, he'd rather avoid getting a blow from that hammer.

Speaking of Mjolnir, it came in pretty useful that day for taking out buildings too damaged to repair, and Loki and Tony spent most of their time bringing in new supplies. It had become strangely routine, now. As if this was Tony's _job_, or something, as if all he had built the suit for was to do other people's work for them... but hey, he was helping people. That was what heroes did, whatever the details. And Tony was a hero. When people weren't pissed with him, anyway, that's how they described him. A superhero.

Back at Stark Tower Tony spent some time with Jane Foster, having a pretty rewarding conversation with her about her work in detecting the Einstein-Rosen bridges created by Asgard's Bifrost... though of course, that had been destroyed, and was still in the process of being repaired.

Loki was still on his mind, as always, and Tony did plan to go and see him... but there were other things going on in his life, and he wasn't about to let Loki change that.

After Jane was gone, Jarvis immediately spoke to him. "Sir."

"Yes dear?"

"I have registered an internal security breach," Jarvis told him. Tony set down his drink, listening carefully. "The notes you have kept about the Extremis virus have been accessed."

"By whom?"

"Loki."

_Of course_. Tony took a deep breath, trying to keep control of his emotions. "Show me." Tony said calmly, studying the report, confirming it. Tony was more than a little impressed at how Loki had grasped the technology – but he wasn't a hacker by any means. He hadn't covered his tracks at all.

"Move the files to my personal server," Tony ordered.

"Already done, sir."

The only reason that Tony had not done this earlier was that there was no reason to expect this specific file to discovered by anyone – unless someone already knew exactly what they were looking for _and_ had a good idea of where to find it. Tony thought back to Monday, when Loki had been in his apartment. Loki had looked at the screens, though only for a second... still, that was probably enough. Tony swore under his breath, feeling nauseous, shaking slightly in fury. He should never have allowed Loki up to his own apartment. He should never have had _anything_ to do with Loki.

Tony tried to keep his composure, not wanting Loki to know that he was pissed off. Tony had been betrayed before, he could handle it. And now there was something he had to do.

When Tony first went down to the other apartment he seemed as friendly with Loki as ever, offering to get him some food from the kitchen. Loki let him go, and on his way out, Tony grabbed the computer and took it. Easy.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked, with a frown.

"I know what you've been doing," Tony said flatly, all pretence gone. "You've been looking at Extremis."

Loki shrugged.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Not really," Loki replied. "I was curious."

"No," Tony replied. "You took advantage of me. I invited you into my apartment and all you ever cared about was finding something you could use to your advantage."

"How could I use Extremis to my advantage?" Loki asked, seemingly genuinely confused.

"You tell me," Tony replied, too angry with Loki to really bother to talk to him anymore. "This sort of thing, this is why people hate you."

"People hate me? Still?"

"Yes, _still!_"

Loki paused for a second. "Do you hate me?"

"Yes," Tony answered, without giving it any thought, or even looking at him.

Tony turned and walked away, but Loki called after him, "Stark!" When he did not stop, Loki called again, "Tony!"

Then, Tony stopped, and turned around. He was intolerably curious, as always, to know what the god had to say. Loki looked at him impatiently. "Come back here, I dislike shouting."

Tony took _one_ step forward and looked at him with a smirk. Loki sighed heavily. "Please, I wish to speak with you. I..." he trailed off, and looked genuinely uncomfortable. "This is not easy for me to admit, Stark, but you are one of the only people I have ever met who I feel might..." he bit his lip, and finished his sentence with difficulty, quietly, "understand me."

Tony widened his eyes, put down the computer, and took a few steps back across the living area, so he was only a few feet from Loki's door, and it felt as if they could speak properly. He knew Loki was changing the subject, but this sounded like it might be a pretty interesting subject. Tony asked, "And why do you think that I would _understand_ you?"

Loki met his eyes earnestly. "I have seen what you've been doing. You are particularly gifted. A genius." _This is just flattery_, Tony reminded himself.

"I already knew that. And you think _you're_ a genius?"

"I _know _I am genius," Loki retorted. "We both know what it is like to struggle against a system meant for inferior men. Your government tried to take your suit from you, because they feared your power. The Asgardians have always distrusted me, because they fear my power. I only behaved as badly as I was treated, and I believe the same to be true of you."

Loki turned around and went to sit on the bed, and Tony took another few steps closer, to stand just outside the doorway. "I respect you," Loki told him, appearing as surprised by his own words as Tony was. "You are above all the other mortals, Stark. I know this. You know this. Why do you think I bothered to try to bring you over to my side?"

"I thought you were just charmed by my winning personality."

"There's that." Loki smiled. "Speaking with you was by far the most fun I had in this realm. But more than that, you have so much to offer, you could be so much more than you are, answering to SHIELD's beck and call, answering to that woman. You–"

"Hey," Tony interrupted angrily, "my CEO's name is Miss Potts. Don't call her _that woman_." Loki rolled his eyes and tried to go back to what he was saying, but Tony interrupted again; he was _not_ going to just let that slide. "Apologise," he insisted.

Loki exhaled heavily, somewhere between an exasperated sigh and a growl. "I apologise," he forced out. "What I was trying to say is that you do not have to answer to _any_ of these people. You naturally rise above them, because you _are_ above them." He paused, and spoke more quietly. "And more than that still, we want the same thing, you and I. Peace for this realm."

As Loki spoke softly, Tony stepped into the room to hear him better, but he scoffed at what was said. "Peace? You never cared about that. That was just your excuse for taking over to satisfy your god complex."

"I am a god," he replied. "And so are you." For once, Tony was silent, all his witty comebacks abandoning him. Loki went on, "What was it you claimed to have done yourself? You described yourself as the nuclear deterrent. You claimed to have _successfully privatised world peace_. But you did not. You are only one man."

"So are you. Well, most of the time."

Loki smirked. "You did succeed, albeit for a short time. And if the Avengers had not come together, I would have succeeded in my endeavours. So you see – together..."

Loki gave Tony that look – _the_ look that Tony had so quickly learned meant that Loki desired him, but Tony stepped towards the door. Loki sprang up and quickly grabbed the doorframe before Tony could get to it, barring his way, holding onto Tony by the shoulder. "Now," he said gleefully, "you are not so foolish as to get tricked into coming into this room. I know and you know that you could only be here because, on some level, this is what you want." He grinned. "You want me."

Tony sighed. "Loki, no. This was a mistake. I can't do this anymore." He tried to pull away, but Loki took hold of his wrist and pulled him toward the bed.

"You are not strong enough," Loki growled, and Tony suddenly realised several things at once.

Tony stopped trying to move or pull away, and stared hard at Loki, trying to make himself look more upset than he really was. "Last night," Tony said, questioningly, "you asked me to use all my strength because you wanted to know how strong I was."

Loki glanced away, nervously. "Well..."

Suddenly, Tony kicked him as hard as he could in the shin. Loki blinked in surprise, but did not lessen his grip on Tony's wrist when Tony tried to wrench it away. _Damn_. Tony met his eyes, looking back at him fiercely. "That's all it's about for you. Tricks. Power. That's what everything has been about, from the moment you got here."

"No," Loki assured him, his voice hollow, defeated.

"Has all of this just been to distract me? I mean, I've hardly done anything else these past few days..." Tony's voice faltered and he was not sure whether he was merely pretending to be upset anymore.

"No..." Loki said, earnestly. "No, you're wrong."

There was a desolation and desperation in Loki's eyes as he implored Tony to believe him, but Tony didn't see that he had any reason to do so. Loki was a liar, a trickster. "Let go of me," Tony spat, pulling his arm away again. Finally, Loki let go by throwing Tony's arm from his grasp and turning around, stalking away in fury. Tony backed out of the door, breathing a sigh of relief.

Loki looked over his shoulder at Tony without expression. "You'll be back."

"You'll be sorry." Tony retorted, turning around and walking quickly out of the apartment. He took Loki's computer with him, getting Jarvis to inform SHIELD of Tony's strict instruction that Loki must not acquire another one.

When he finally got a moment to himself, alone, in his apartment, thoughts of Loki rushed into his mind with a surprising intensity. He wasn't sure who he was more angry with – Loki or himself.

Loki had hacked into the computer system – but _of course_ he had. Why would he not? This was Loki, and that was the sort of thing he did. Tony should have seen it coming. And Loki had been using him, testing him, distracting him, while he carried out whatever the hell insanity he had planned. But again, why expect anything else from Loki?

Tony decided that he was more angry with himself. He knew who Loki was, what Loki was, and yet he had let his guard down around the man, let him get too close. _That's always a mistake_. He felt betrayed, of course, but mostly he just felt as if he'd been an idiot here. Loki had known exactly how to cloud Tony's judgement: sex, lust. It was Tony's most obvious weakness and Loki had exploited it for all he could, presumably enjoying himself in the meantime.

It wasn't the case that Tony _cared_, per se, that for Loki, all that had been going on between them was about power. After all, for Tony, it was all about sex. That _was_ all it was about... right?


	10. Across the Universe

**10: Across the Universe**

_Awkward_ didn't even begin to cover the next day. Tony stewed in his resentment, and Thor certainly noticed that Tony and Loki were no longer talking to each other, and soon had Tony telling him about the hacking incident. Tony neglected to mention the, uh, _other details_. That was not a conversation he was in the mood to have.

* * *

The evening's party, if you could call it that, actually helped to take Tony's mind off things pretty well. He resolved to steadily get blind drunk, because why the hell not? As it was a party, no one noticed just how many glasses he was knocking back, how he was making progressively less sense. The only person who did perhaps notice was the _guest of honour_ – the guy who had fallen foul of Loki's forcefield. He had his arm in a sling and couldn't drink a lot, and found the whole thing hilarious. _Well good for him_.

Several people from SHIELD arrived, including, slightly surprisingly, Clint Barton. "Legolas!" Tony smiled, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Stark," Clint smiled back at him. "Long time no see."

Tony spent most of his time talking to Clint, catching up with him. Of course, Clint didn't talk too much about the details of his life – it _was_ secret after all. But Tony knew one way to get him to react. "Have you seen Natasha lately?"

Clint blinked, and there was a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth, as if he wanted to smile. "Not much," he replied coyly. "Why?"

Just as Tony was getting somewhere, Director Fury appeared beside him, wanting a word.

"I heard that you and Loki had a spat," Fury said wryly.

Tony rolled his eyes. "No different from any other day. Except that he hacked into the computer network–"

"And how the hell did he do that?"

"'Cause he's some kind of genius, obviously. More the point," Tony moved on quickly, "how do you know about all this?"

"Everyone knows," Fury said, flatly. _Uh oh_. "When you ordered that Loki not use a computer anymore, when the system protocols were updated and strengthened – it's not hard to put two and two together."

"That sounds more like a rumour," Tony said, dismissively, spinning his drink around in the glass. "People will forget all about it."

"It doesn't matter if it's a _rumour_. Dammit, Stark, think ahead. Every small thing that Loki does gets picked up on, rumours spread. And the consequences can spiral out of control in ways you can't foresee, and I have to clean up the mess. I have a bad feeling about this. You two are dangerous together. I know consequences are generally not among your interests..."

"Consequences – okay, Mace Windu, I get it." Tony yawned and took a sip of his drink.

"Well I'm sorry for boring you," Fury replied, sarcastically.

"I'm just tired," Tony said, and that, at least, was true. He had been so angry the previous night that he had gone for an exhilarating and completely unnecessary flight in his suit in the middle of the night.

The room suddenly dimmed, lights flickering. Tony wasn't sure whether he just imagined it until Clint asked him, "Problems with the arc reactor?"

Tony scoffed. "No, we never have problems with the arc reactor. I mean, I built it." He downed the last of his drink and set it down on a table nearby, succeeding on the second attempt. "I'll go check on Loki. Check if he did that."

"Stark," Fury said strictly, "you can't leave."

"I'll be five minutes," Tony grumbled. Thor was watching all of this closely, and Tony exchanged a glance with him before leaving, though Tony had drank too much to really understand what it meant.

It was only when he was alone in the corridor that Tony actually realised just how drunk he was. Somehow the lack of distractions such as other people and music made it glaringly obvious to him that all the walls seemed to be at the wrong angles and he hardly knew where the hell he was going.

He passed the SHIELD agents on the way into the secure apartment and went over to Loki's room, staring at the closed door. _You bastard_. This would probably not be a lot of fun. This was really unnecessary too. Thor could have come down here. Why had he ever thought this was a good idea?

Tony went over to the door of Loki's room and pushed it open, but did not immediately see him. Lying there casually on the bed there was a woman: incredibly tall and wrapped in a tight black dress with green decoration, with legs that went on forever, long black hair... and of course, this _was_ Loki. And hell, he was _not_ kidding when he said he could make himself into a woman.

"Hello, Stark," Loki spoke in a voice low, sultry and distinctly feminine – and Tony felt himself melt a little at the sound of it. Gorgeous voice as a man, gorgeous voice as a woman too...

"What the hell are you doing?"

Loki grinned and twisted a strand of long, black hair around his – or her – finger. "I was bored. And I have, as you might say, a _peeve_ about not being invited to things."

"What was that, with the lights?"

"Nothing damaging," Loki said dismissively. She appeared bored with this line of conversation, and her eyes wandered down Tony's body. Loki just wanted _attention_. Flicking her eyes back up to his, she commanded, "Come here."

Tony shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Sorry, rocky horror picture show, no can do. If I'm gone too long your brother will come looking for me – and I don't know how he'd feel seeing that his brother is now his sister."

Loki laughed. "It would not be the first time." Loki got up gracefully, and crossed the room to stand in front of Tony. She was slightly shorter than Tony was used to, around the same height as himself now. Her jaw line was softer, her hands smaller, but she was still recognisable. She had the same blue-green eyes, the same mischievous smirk. It was, nevertheless, an incredible transformation, and Tony could not stop himself from telling Loki so.

Loki smiled, and said, "If _the people_ knew that I was a shape-shifter, that I could send off illusory copies of myself, it would greatly increase their fear of me." Tony nodded, and Loki looked at him quizzically. "Do you fear me?"

Tony took a deep breath, wondering how many times Loki was going to ask him that. "No," he answered.

Loki stepped nearer, wrapping her arms around Tony's neck, pulling him closer. "I really do think you should," she said, sweetly.

Tony could feel his pulse quicken, his body responding to the beautiful woman against him. "I'm still mad at you," he told Loki, and yet he felt his arms slide around Loki's slim waist, and did not resist when Loki moved closer, planting a kiss on Tony's lips. Damn, he had terrible impulse control...

This kiss was different, somehow. Physically, Loki's lips were fuller, her skin softer, and she even smelled slightly different; sweeter. But beyond that, she was also somehow more submissive, more gentle, and Tony wondered whether there was an extent to which changes to Loki's form changed his character.

Loki broke the kiss, trailing her fingers through Tony's hair, pulling him closer to whisper in his ear. "I wish to have you while I am in this form," she said simply, and Tony's heart leapt, his groin throbbed. He forgot all about the argument of the day before, and his earlier refusal to get to know the female Loki on the basis that it would be weird; Tony could probably get past that right now-

But suddenly – the moment and the glass in the window was shattered.

Loki swiftly stepped away and with a glow of golden light, instantly changed himself back to his male form, complete with Asgardian armour and horned helmet, looking every inch a warrior.

Tony could hear alarms ringing out throughout the building as four Chitauri crawled in through the window like spiders, with more following, one speaking with a snarl. "We have come for you both," his voice rattled, "how convenient that you are in the same place." And with that, they all sprang on the pair. There was little that Tony could do without his suit or a weapon, and he was not entirely convinced that any of this was really happening. Loki drew throwing knives from nowhere and attacked – and in the flurry of confused activity in the darkened room he apparently took out two of them. But it wasn't enough.

Tony felt himself picked up by one of them, and attacked it with everything he had, striking it hard in the neck. The creature buckled and Tony was dropped hard on the floor. He sprang for the door, but another Chitauri was on him immediately. He caught a glimpse of Loki, struggling in the grip of three of them, before Tony was hurled roughly out of the window and into some kind of pitch black, featureless box. His stomach turned, as he could not see out, could not work out which way was up and which was down.

The next second, he heard Loki land next to him, and was somehow conscious of them both being sealed in this disorienting environment. The walls of the box felt like steel, and Tony scrambled to his knees, shouting wordlessly and slamming his fists against the walls furiously, trying in vain to free himself.

"Stark," Loki's tried to get his attention, with no success. "_Stark_," he insisted, somehow finding Tony in the dark, grabbing hold of him, pulling him back. Neither of them could see a thing; the darkness was so consuming and intense. "I have been in this place before," Loki said evenly. "There is no escape. Do not hurt yourself."

Tony gave up his struggle and fell back against Loki, who knelt behind him and wrapped his arms around him. They took a moment to catch their breath, and Tony asked, "Where the hell did they come from?"

Loki sighed. "They do have other means of inter-world travel, and they are skilled in finding themselves powerful allies." He paused for a moment holding Tony more tightly. "I am sorry, Stark. I knew that they would come for me." After a pause he added, "It is well that we are together. We are more powerful together than we would be alone."

Tony took in a deep breath. "You'll forgive me if that doesn't fill me with confidence."

"Tony," Loki said, his voice soft, reassuring, "I can talk my way out of just about anything. I talked my way out of the clutches of these people before, and I believe I can do so again." Tony smiled weakly in the pitch blackness. Loki kissed him on the cheek and added, "Trust me."

* * *

Seemingly only a few moments later Tony and Loki were hauled out before a crowd of Chitauri in utterly alien and unfamiliar surroundings. The main thing Tony wanted to know was how the hell they had apparently travelled to some other point in space, how they were on a rocky surface, a night sky blanketed thickly with stars overhead.

Loki seemed to adapt instantly, standing up straight, speaking with confidence. "If you harm me, the deal is off!"

A Chitauri soldier hesitated. "Deal?" he repeated, "What is this _deal_ of which you speak?"

Loki growled menacingly through gritted teeth. "Clearly, you are ignorant. I need to speak to your superior."

Loki glanced at Tony. "And the same goes for the human," he said, authoritatively. "If any harm comes to him, any at all, you will live to regret it."

With that, Loki was led away, out of Tony's sight. Presumably Loki was bluffing – and doing it like a boss...

Tony was held by two Chitauri guards, who glanced at each other, and then at him, and Tony _recognised_ that look. Despite them being aliens, he had seen that look before, on his captors in Afghanistan. It was some combination of a primitive lust for inflicting pain on another, of vengeance, and of a deep sense of hurt. However much Tony might hate these things – these people – they hated him right back. Tony had delivered a nuclear weapon to their base, he had surely wiped out thousands of them, maybe tens of thousands – Tony had no idea. He had never wanted to do that, just like he had never wanted all those people in the warzones of Earth to die from his weapons. But still, he _had_ done it. He was responsible for their pain, he was responsible for their anger, and if they hurt him, he felt that there was a sense in which he was responsible for that too.

* * *

Loki was dragged before the Other, leader of these Chitauri, and thrown roughly to the ground, though he quickly got back to his feet. "So good to see you again," Loki told them, dryly. "Where is Thanos?"

"You failed us." The Other said, bitterly, ignoring Loki's question.

"You failed me," Loki argued back. "Your army failed to take Earth. When the mother ship was destroyed, they all became useless. Your procedures are absurd."

"Our ship was destroyed," the Other growled, "by the other prisoner. Stark. We will have justice."

"No," Loki said quickly. "I will not let you kill him."

"That is well," the Other replied smoothly. "We intend to torture him for as long as he survives."

"You cannot. He is part of my back-up plan." He let that sink in for a moment, letting the Other and the Chitauri exchange glances. "Our assault on Earth was not successful. But we can still win. You must be patient, you must allow me more time."

"You are out of time," the Other retorted. "You made us a promise, you failed, and you lost the Tesseract. Why should we ally ourselves to you again? You have nothing else we want."

"Extremis." Loki paused as if they should know what that was, and then went on to explain it, and how they might use it – the fact that it could re-write the structure of the body of any animal, either as a weapon, or a means of improvement. "All I need from you now, is to let us go, unharmed. It is that simple."

The Other walked up to Loki and stood excessively close in front of him. "And you have this... Extremis?"

"I can get it–"

The Other struck Loki hard on the shoulder and forced him to his knees. Loki bit his lip hard, tasting blood, but would not give them the satisfaction of crying out, or letting them know that they had hurt him. The Other said, "You expect make bargains with that which you do not possess, trickster?"

Loki took a deep breath, and tried to keep his voice steady. "I did not have the Tesseract when–"

"And you do not have the Tesseract now! You stole it only to lose it again."

"I will get Extremis!" Loki shouted back. "Give me a month, and I will get it."

"You have one half of a month," The Other retorted, "two of their Earth weeks." Loki had expected that; if he had started by saying two weeks, the Other would have knocked it down to one. The Other continued, "How do you mean to acquire this device?"

"Stark will get it for me," Loki assured them. "I can make him trust me. When his guard is down, he will do as I say."

The Other seemed unconvinced. "Do not fail us again. And Stark, the human, he knows nothing of your plans?"

"Of course not," Loki said, derisively. "It would not work if he did. He has no idea of his part in this."

The Chitauri glanced at one another, the Other speaking again. "Then we will return you to him. Say whatever it is you need to say to maintain your hold over him. We will consider what you have said."

Loki looked between them. "Where is Thanos?" he asked again.

"Thanos has no further interest in you," The Other spat. "You failed him. You disappoint him. You bore him."

Loki let his head drop as he was led away, hiding from them the shadow of a smirk that crept over his face.

* * *

The stone cell did not have a bed, exactly, merely a padded sort of cloth atop a table against the wall. Tony sat on it, in the corner, facing the door, hugging his knees. It was not warm and it was pretty dark in there, too, lit only by four very small, dim lights, one in each corner of the ceiling, which gave everything a sickly, yellow glow.

In the past hour or so, since getting flung in there, Tony had already searched the room thoroughly for some possible way out – but there was not even a window, and no chance of tunnelling out through solid rock. There was an outlet for waste in the corner, but that was far too narrow for either of them to get through – unless Loki could shape-shift or something. There was also nothing that he could possibly use as a weapon to attack a guard, not a screw, not a stone – nothing. The room was utterly bare.

He had sobered up a little bit, though he still hoped that this was some terrible nightmare. He had been given water in a bottle that felt similar to plastic, but the main thing on his mind was that he could _really_ do with a burger right now.

The heavy metal door clanged open, and Loki was thrown through it, stumbling but catching himself against the wall to stop himself falling. He did not look directly at Tony, so Tony spoke first as they were sealed inside, together. "What happened? What did they say?"

Loki sighed. "They will think about it."

"Think about what?"

Loki met his eyes through the gloom, and Tony's blood ran cold at the fear and sadness he saw there. Loki looked at the floor of the cell. "I tried." appeared to be all that he could say. He leaned against the wall and slid down, to sit on the floor.

Tony got up and went over to him, putting an arm around him, though Loki could probably not really feel it through the solid black armour pieces he was wearing, as he had elected to re-clothe himself much as he had last time he had been on Earth, last time he had been in a cage. Loki took in a ragged breath, and rested his head on Tony's shoulder. "I do not know what will happen," Loki said weakly. "I fear I may have over-stated my powers of persuasion."

Tony rested a hand on Loki's arm and squeezed. "Hey, . We're still alive. There's always a way out."

Loki said nothing.


	11. Cabin Fever

**11: Cabin Fever**

When Tony awoke in the morning, if you could call it that, he immediately felt like hell. _Hangover_.

Loki lay on his back beside him, partially undressed. Without his magic he had to manually remove some of the armour around his shoulders, and his coat. He stared blankly at the ceiling, cold, detached. Tony sat and took a long drink of water, but he could really do with some coffee.

"Perhaps you should devise a more efficient delivery system," Loki suggested, when Tony mentioned this, "an intravenous drip, as you once mentioned."

Tony buried his head in his hands and groaned. "That was a _joke_, Loki."

* * *

There was nothing to do in the cell, and seeing as Tony was still officially pissed with Loki, it was not long at all before they descended into petty arguments, _bickering_.

"And you're _sure_ you can't use magic?" Tony asked him, again.

"Of course I am sure," Loki replied, irritatedly. "I told you, this cell was designed with me in mind. There is a field in place behind the walls which nullifies magical energy. There is nothing I can do."

"How can you know that if you don't try?"

"I can feel it, Stark, and I have been here before. _And_ my cell in Asgard has something similar. I know how it feels. You will cease asking me to do magic – which I was under the impression you hated anyway – if you value your safety. If we were in Asgard you would pay for such recalcitrance."

Tony rolled his eyes. "I do hate magic," he replied. "It doesn't make any damn sense. You can _feel_ it, can you? And I just have to take your word for it. How do I know you're not lying, how do I know this whole thing wasn't your idea?"

"This?" Loki gestured around the room, "Ending up in another cell, being threatened with torture and death, why would that be my idea?"

"I don't know!" Tony shouted.

There was a terse silence, Loki looking at him with some realisation. "And you do so hate not to know," Loki observed. "I do not make sense to you. You can't stand it; you want to _solve_ me, like a scientific problem."

Tony sighed. "Of course I do. You're the most difficult and _un_scientific problem I've ever come across." He leaned back against the wall, wondering whether there really was a dampening field which made it impossible for Loki to do magic. Unless that was made by magic too, then that meant that it was scientifically possible to restrain Loki - or reduce his power, at least...

* * *

Loki was dragged out of the cell for a while, a couple of hours perhaps, during which time Tony was insufferably bored, again looking for ways out, with no success.

Even when Loki returned, things did not really improve. Loki was incredibly reticent about his plans, his conversations with the Other, how the hell it was exactly that he thought they were going to get out of this place. Tony eventually just gave up asking him, pacing up and down the cell, though he could only take five steps in each direction before turning round.

Loki huffed and tsked at him, before finally snapping, "Stop doing that. It irritates me."

Tony continued. "Don't tell me what to do. Besides, maybe I'll eventually wear a hole in the floor and we can escape."

"Don't talk nonsense."

"And do you have a better escape plan?!"

"Yes!" Loki shouted back.

"And you won't tell me what it is. I'm sure it's a terrific plan, shawshank redemption, just perfect." He gestured around the cell, "I can see that it's going really well so far." And with that, he paced a while longer, Loki sat on the bed, leaning back against the wall. "What did you say to them?" Tony pressed him.

"I have said what I had to say to convince them to let us go," Loki replied coolly.

"Tell me what that is," Tony barked at him. Loki met his gaze with one of steely silence. Tony sighed. "Tell me what you've said, _please_."

"I will," Loki replied. "When we get out."

Suddenly, Tony slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. "We shouldn't be here. If I had had the suit we would never have been captured. But take the suit away..."

Loki regarded him carefully. "The suit and you are one," he said slowly. "You are trying to make that rather more literal, permanent. That is what you're working on."

Tony span around. "Why do you say that?"

"It's an inference, Stark, based on what I know of Extremis. Is it true?"

Tony nodded and stared down at the floor for a long time, before looking back up at Loki. "Extremis has been theoretical technology for years, and now it's real. If it works, and if I use it, it could make me like you." Loki raised his eyebrows, so Tony explained. "They call it a virus, but really it's made up of nano-bots, microscopic robots. They would be small enough to be in my body at all times, enable me to heal faster, be stronger, control the suit with my mind. I would be as strong as you, without the suit."

Loki nodded. "Does my magic still seem so implausible, now that your Midgardian technology is calling such things into existence?"

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Is that how your magic works?"

"No," Loki paused, trying to think of a way to explain. "We call it destiny – who is gifted with magic and who is not. I have it, and there must be a reason for that. All Aesir have it to some extent, even my brute of a brother, as magical energy is much stronger in Asgard. But sorcery per se is an option for a more limited number. No one knows how magic came to exist, where it began. Perhaps it was created by someone, and went on to develop a will of its own. Now it chooses its hosts for its own reasons, perhaps because it is now so powerful that it knows the future. No one knows."

Tony thought about this for a long time. With the rapid advancement of technology in only the past 100 years, as ridiculous as "magic" was, he could not rule out the possibility of what Loki was saying. The concept of Extremis terrified him for precisely this reason – what if it spiralled out of his control? More the point, Tony knew that he was therefore certain to find out the hard way. From the second he had learned of its existence he had always known that he was doomed; that it was only a matter of time before he tried it out himself.

He told Loki, "When I first heard about Extremis, I told Pepper that I wanted it. Just like that – I was sure. Well, she wasn't. She said she wouldn't let me do that to myself when I had no idea what would happen. It ended up as an argument. That's why... well, that was one of the last conversations we had while we were, you know, together." He wasn't sure why he was telling Loki this.

"She would hold you back from your potential."

"She would protect me," Tony shot back. "She would protect me from myself."

Loki stood and walked over to him, towering over him. "_I_ would not coddle you in such a way," he said, a mocking tone in his voice. "I would want to see you reach your full potential. I would not wish to see you waste an opportunity to be all that you can be."

Tony tried to argue back, to protest, but Loki backed him against the wall and held him firmly by the jaw, eyes boring into him. "I want you to be on my level, Stark. You deserve it; it is what you were born for. The rest are beneath us..." Loki trailed his fingers down Tony's neck to the uppermost button of his shirt, easily unfastening it. "Think how much power you will have," Loki went on, unfastening another button, skirting around the top of the arc reactor, one way, and then the other.

Tony met his eyes and tried not to give anything away. The Extremis virus was a modern version of the super-soldier serum that had made Steve Rogers into Captain America. Tony wasn't planning on such a spangly outfit, but he would be as strong, stronger, in fact – probably as strong as Loki – and hell, _that_ would change the game...

Loki leaned in closer to kiss him, but Tony turned away as best he could – and failing that he planned to bite him. Loki paused, close enough for them to breathe the same air. He looked mystified. "Why the sudden chastity, Stark? You let me kiss you yesterday."

Tony met his eyes defiantly. "That was _yesterday_." Loki broke into a crooked smile and Tony went on, "I was drunker, and you were prettier."

Loki laughed and shook his head. "Answer me one thing," he said slowly, "If you got Extremis, if you had the opportunity to make yourself like me, would you take it?"

Tony hesitated for a long moment, before answering, "No." Loki had too much power for his own good. It corrupted him, made him arrogant, impossible to control. "No," Tony repeated, "I will not be like you. I don't want to be like you."

"Then you are a fool," Loki snapped aggressively, breaking away from him suddenly and stalking over to the other side of the cell. "There is no nobility in sacrificing your future, in keeping yourself inferior, only to spare the feelings of those you naturally are above." His voice rose, suddenly imbued with emotion, "Just because you are born to an inferior race does not mean you have to let them drag you down to their pathetic level!"

There was a long, tremulous silence.

Tony said cautiously, "I don't feel like we're talking about me anymore."

Loki took a deep breath, not meeting his eyes. "We can talk about you, if you wish."

Tony nodded, but for once, he didn't want to talk about himself. He figured that Loki hated being a Frost Giant and desperately wanted to know why – but he also knew that Loki would not be pressed on that point. The topic clearly struck a nerve.

* * *

They had no food brought to them, and Tony came to understand just why it had pissed Loki off so badly. The gnawing hunger in his stomach was constant and consuming, and it did nothing to help Tony's hangover, the dragging headache, the dryness of his mouth which persisted no matter how much water he drank.

Mainly out of boredom the two of them lay down to go to sleep for a while, but Loki was apparently not satisfied with that. His long fingers crept over Tony's neck, massaging him, and he lay close behind Tony.

"Not tonight dear. I told you, I have a headache."

"Sit up," Loki ordered.

"No, Loki, I need to sleep..."

"Sit up," he repeated.

When Tony did not comply, Loki pulled him up to sit on the side of the bed, perching behind him. "What the hell, Loki..."

"Quiet," Loki took hold of Tony's shoulders and began to massage them firmly, working on his neck as well. After a few minutes, he asked, "Any better?"

"A little," Tony admitted. "You can still do _some_ magic."

"Hmm..." Loki continued his ministrations and leaned in close to Tony's ear. "Would you like me to do some more?"

Tony took a deep breath and smiled in spite of himself at Loki saying something so corny. He was still pissed with Loki for the hacking incident, and had a suspicion that even these events with the Chitauri were orchestrated by Loki himself... "No," he said evenly. "I just need sleep."

Loki made a noise of frustration. "Performance issues..."

"I do not have performance issues," Tony retorted, coming to wish he had never used those damn words. It was true; he easily _could_ have Loki right now, twice, if he wasn't so pissed off with him... though in Loki's case, being pissed off seemed to have no less effect on Tony's desire than getting along with him did. _Dammit._

"You're still angry with me," Loki said softly, in what was not quite a question.

Loki lay down on the bed behind him, and Tony turned to lie next to him, facing him. "You're damn right," Tony replied. "What the hell were you doing, looking at Extremis, anyway?"

Loki shrugged. "I do what I want. The fact that you kept it secret piqued my curiosity. I wanted to know what it was and why you would be interested."

Tony sighed in exasperation, resting a hand on Loki's arm. "You understand why I had to take the computer though, right?"

Loki frowned. "Do not speak to me as if I am a child. Of course I understand." Loki slipped a hand onto Tony's waist, resting in there, looking at him closely. "I understand why you are angry with me," he said, the tone of his voice completely changed to one of playful desire. "I would not be at all averse to you taking out your anger on me... you cannot harm me, after all, but you could try..."

Tony took in a deep breath, trying to reign in his imagination, trying not to let that turn him on. Loki continued, "You could fight me for dominance, throw me down on the floor, against the wall... punish me..."

"Shut up, Loki." Tony span around to lie facing away from Loki – and oh, that was a mistake.

Loki held Tony against him, pressing his burgeoning erection hard against Tony's ass. "I know you want me..." His hand placed firmly over Tony's crotch he squeezed before moving onto more refined, careful touches, rubbing Tony through his clothes, quickly getting the response he was looking for.

Tony pulled in vain at Loki's wrist, as he was pretty sure he managed to say "No" at some point, but if he was honest with himself, he wasn't really putting up much resistance. Tony _did_ want him, his chest ached with the desire and it felt amazing to have Loki touching him again... and they were in a cell; it's not like anyone would find out...

But there was no way he was letting Loki get to him again. He let go of Loki's arm and elbowed him hard in the ribs. "Loki stop!" Tony shouted. "I mean it, we're done. I'll sleep on the damn floor..."

Tony disentangled himself from Loki, made to get down, but Loki grabbed him and held him up. "No, Stark, if one of us has to sleep on the floor then I will."

"No..." Tony said, as Loki got off the bed.

"I am more resilient; it will do me less harm than it will do you. Get on the bed, Stark."

Loki pushed him back towards it, where Tony reluctantly climbed back on. Loki then lay down on the floor facing away from him, though he could not bear to face the outlet for waste, so turned back. Tony leaned over the side of the bed. "Loki..." he said softly. "Loki, you don't have to sleep on the floor."

"It makes little difference," Loki spat.

"I mean it, come on, get back up here."

"No," Loki insisted. "At least I have my own space on the floor."

Tony sighed and moved back, trying to settle himself into some kind of comfortable position on the hard, uneven surface of the bed. It was going to be a long night.


	12. Withdrawal

**12: Withdrawal**

There was no way to tell whether it was night or day in the cell, or whether this place even had nights and days. Hours bled into each other as Tony drifted in and out of sleep - aware of, at some point, Loki re-appearing to lie behind him, one arm protectively around him. Tony felt terrible; sick, tired, weak and clammy, shaking as if he had a fever. His head throbbed as if a truck were repeatedly driving over it. Not truly asleep, not awake either, he was dimly aware of Loki stroking his hair, rubbing his back, and that did seem to help a little, but not a lot.

He finally woke with a start, pressing his forehead to the cool stone wall in a desperate attempt to soothe the pain. Loki shifted behind him, one hand on Tony's shoulder. "You are unwell," he said, questioningly.

Tony made a vague sound of agreement. There was no use denying it now. "You're not keeping me in the style to which I've become accustomed, darling. I need a drink."

"Alcohol," Loki replied, "Your body is dependent on the substance." Tony sighed. Loki continued, "Then it is well that you no longer have it."

"You don't get it," Tony snapped. "There are right and wrong ways to quit. I can't just –" he clicked his fingers – "_stop_, just like that." True enough, not that Tony exactly had any plans to quit, anyway.

Loki apparently and thought about this for some time. Then, quite suddenly, he got up and rattled the door. The noise was insufferable. "What the hell are you doing?" Tony mumbled, rolling onto his back. Loki continued until he got some attention from a Chitauri guard, who slid open a panel on the other side of a barred slot.

"My friend is ill," Loki said. "He requires medicine."

The Chitauri asked, "What kind of medicine?"

"Alcohol," Loki told him. They argued about this for a few minutes, the Chitauri agreeing to refer the matter to the Other.

"Bring me the wine list," Tony quipped as the guard left. "Seriously, Loki, I think this might make things worse rather than better."

Loki shrugged and looked at him with what would appear to be genuine concern.

* * *

Some time later, the Other returned, giving them a bottle of water, and a second bottle. "Alcohol," the Other told them.

Loki opened it quickly and smelled it. "This is pure," he said angrily, "I told the guard, he can't drink this, it will kill him."

"That is not my concern," the Other replied, indifferently. "If you want it, then put it in the water." And with that, the slot was closed, and they were left there, alone.

Loki sighed heavily, and picked up the bottle of water. Tony watched him. "Loki," he said gently, "you tried, but I don't think this is a good idea. I don't think I should drink that."

Loki ignored him, taking a drink of the water and tipping a small amount of the alcohol into it before Tony could stop him. "That's the only water we have," Tony protested, which Loki also ignored. He put the lid back on the bottle, shook it, and then handed it to Tony.

"Shaken, not stirred..." Tony accepted the bottle and opened it. He smelled it first, though it didn't really smell any different. "If I go blind," he said nervously, "it's your fault."

Loki watched Tony closely as he took a sip, the harsh taste burning its way down Tony's throat, inspiring a harsh cough, and a sharp stab of pain in every muscle that involved.

"Do you feel any better?" Loki asked curiously.

Tony shrugged. "Well, I don't feel any worse. It would take a while to make any difference, anyway."

Tony lay back down on the bed, and they were quiet for a moment before he finally extended his hand to Loki. Loki took it, gently, looking down at him. Tony pulled him towards the bed. "Lie down with me for a while. For once in your life, please just be quiet and don't be an ass."

Loki rolled his eyes but did exactly as he was asked, even removing the chest plate of his armour and letting Tony rest his head on his chest, stroking his hair absently. They stayed like that a while, Tony drifting off to a shallow sleep again, though always uncomfortably aware of where he was. Loki's presence beneath him was oddly reassuring; the sound of his breathing, his arms around him, it all made Tony feel a little better than he would if he had been alone.

After a while Tony awoke, propping himself up in the corner, drinking some more of the foul water. "Let's talk about something," he said, "otherwise I'm just thinking about how I feel like death warmed up. Distract me."

Loki thought for a moment. "It is not easy to pass the time in a cell. At least you have company."

"Yeah, but my company is you," Tony replied. "You wouldn't do well in a regular prison. I mean, on Earth, if you were a human and didn't have magic."

Loki frowned. "Why not?"

"You're so pretty," Tony replied. "They'd pass you around like currency."

Loki sneered. "You're disgusting."

"It was a compliment." Tony smiled. "You're good-looking, slim, young–" He looked at Loki curiously. "Wait, how old are you, actually?"

"Over 1000 of your Earth years."

"And you don't look a day over 900," Tony assured him, which earned him a little smile. "Seriously though," Tony went on, "you only look about 30. You do have a bit of a receding hairline..."

"Shut up," Loki snapped.

"If it bothers you, why don't you change it? You can do magic."

"Then..." Loki hesitated. "Then I would not look like _me_." Tony took a second to take that on board. It made sense to him; he had no particular desire to make himself look "better" either, if he would not look like himself anymore.

"It's fine," Tony assured him, "I like it. No need to be so sensitive. How did you look when you were actually 30?"

"Younger."

Tony rolled his eyes. "How long will you live?"

Loki thought for a moment. "Honestly, Stark – no one knows how long they will live, but in my case, particularly, I suspect it will not be old age that kills me. I know not."

Tony nodded. "Yeah. Same." There was a moment of silence before Tony asked something which had bothered him ever since he had first found out that Loki was born some place called Jotunheim and not Asgard. "About... looking like you. Do Frost Giants look like you?"

Loki stared hard at the floor of the cell. "No."

Tony knew that this was a sensitive subject, but he just had to know... "So, why do you look the way you do, and not... frosty?"

Tony could see the muscles tense in the side of Loki's face as he clenched his jaw and scowled for a moment, appearing deep in thought. Finally, Loki answered, "Odin cast a powerful spell over me to give me an Aesir appearance. Although my Jotun form is, technically, my natural form," he paused, in apparent disgust, "it is no easy thing, as you may imagine, for me to revert to it. It takes a great deal of effort for me to counter-act the spell under which Odin placed me. I have had this Aesir form all my life; in effect this is my natural form, this is how I have always looked."

Tony nodded as if that all made sense. _Fucking magic_. "But... you're a shape-shifter..."

Loki shrugged. "Yes. I can easily change my appearance, but when I release myself of that spell, this is the form to which I return, as it were, _automatically_. By default."

"Oh, well, that all makes perfect sense," Tony nodded. "Can I... see you in your other form?" Loki glared daggers at him, and Tony raised his hands. "Okay, I'll take that as a no."

There was a long and uncomfortable silence in the cell after that. Never having seen a Frost Giant or even had them described to him, Tony's imagination ran riot with the possibilities as to how Loki may really look – as well as what Loki was really like internally. Did he have the metabolism of a Frost Giant? He did generally have cool hands, but he could get pretty warm, when he got going...

"Talk about something else," Tony said.

"Very well," Loki replied. "Do you recall, Stark, when you told me that there was no version of events where I came out on top?"

"Sure," Tony replied, wearily.

"You were wrong. I knew that I would come out on top in _all_ versions of events."

Tony gestured around the cell. "What about this one? You call _this_ being on top?"

"Oh yes," Loki raised his eyebrows. "Definitely."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "You knew. You knew they'd come for you."

"And I knew they would come for you," Loki replied. "But probably not until I was on Midgard as well, so they only had to make one trip. I am only surprised that it took them so long."

Tony buried his head in his hands, thinking aloud, "You know, I'm getting a little pissed off with the way that you seem to know everything that's going on and I don't have a fucking clue. Why do you have to keep me in the dark?"

Loki smiled, and looked earnestly at him. "There are things I cannot tell you, mainly for your own safety. But never doubt that I tell you all I can."

Tony was about to reply, but the door of the cell was opened. Loki re-dressed himself and they were both dragged out, along rocky, dim corridors, to face the Other. Tony kept quiet, as the Other addressed only Loki, and Tony still felt like hell. "We have accepted your proposition," the Other said simply.

Loki nodded. "You are wise."

"Do not waste my time with your insincere flattery," the Other snapped. "Leave."

Loki faltered. "How am I to do that?"

The other guided Loki into a sort of cage, telling him, in quite a derisive tone, to use his _magic_. Tony followed, more than a little concerned by the way Loki was looking around him as if he had no idea of what to do. Since when did Loki not know what to do? "What is this?" Tony asked. "Some kind of wormhole machine?"

The Other stared wordlessly back at him. Loki pulled Tony against himself, embracing him. "Hold on to me," he said, tremulously. "This will not be pleasant."

Tony wrapped his arms around Loki, getting a solid grip on the armour at his back. Loki closed his eyes, breathing deeply, and for a long time nothing happened. "What exactly are you doing, magical mystery tour?"

"Shut up," Loki snapped back at him.

Tony then felt the air vibrate around them, closing his eyes to shut out the fog of golden light which pressed in against them. For a long moment this was all there was before a sickening lurch – in no direction and _all_ directions, impossibly, at once. There was a silence, an interlude of nothing, and then another lurch, an impact with the ground beneath his feet. Tony became aware of icy air around him, just about processing that he was on the helipad of Stark Tower, before Loki collapsed against him and on top of him as they fell to the floor together.

"Dammit," Tony mumbled, surprised by how he could hardly breathe, "you're a lot heavier than you look."

Loki rolled off him and onto his back, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. "Shit," Tony said, resting a hand on his chest.

"Tony!" Pepper's voice reached him, and Tony then saw Thor rush out behind her, passing her, getting to Loki as quickly as he could.

Tony staggered to his feet, concentrating on not throwing up, and Thor carried Loki inside, where Director Fury himself was waiting, as well as Clint Barton and Maria Hill. Tony looked over at Loki, who was conscious, lying down on another couch, and he tried to hide his relief that Loki seemed to be okay.

Tony sat down heavily and looked around him. Everything was as he had left it. He took a deep breath. "Did I miss the race?"

"The what?" replied Pepper.

"The Formula 1 race. I do own a team. I had thought, before all this, that I might go to Austin; would've been pretty convenient..."

Pepper sighed in exasperation. "I guess... I guess it'll be finished by now."

"How did we do?"

"God, Tony, I don't know!"

Then, inevitably, Director Fury had him explain all that had happened to them. Once Tony was done, he asked Fury and Pepper how his absence had been accounted for.

"We said you were sick," Fury answered.

Tony looked at him, exasperated. He didn't want people thinking that. "Sick? Why?"

"We thought of saying that the suit had technical problems, but then thought you'd like that even less," Fury retorted. "What would you rather we'd said?"

"You could have said, hey, this guy already helped save this city from space lizards and went through a portal of time and space carrying a nuke all to save all your sorry assess, if he wants a day off, he'll fucking have one."

There was a terse silence. Tony asked, "And what did you say about the Chitauri ship which apparently materialised outside the building?"

"The classic," Fury said wryly, "a covert training exercise which didn't entirely go to plan."

Fury then turned his eye on the Asgardians, addressing Thor. "I think you and your brother had better be heading home."

"That is not possible," Thor replied. "Loki travelled here under his own power, it will be some time before he is strong enough."

Loki nodded, and said, "I will stay here."

"Brother," Thor said, "we should not stay longer than we have to. The Chitauri will come back for you."

"Indeed," Loki replied. "I would not endanger Asgard, if they came for me there."

Fury interjected, "But you're fine with endangering Earth? Sorry, you don't get to make that call."

Loki stared hard at him and got to his feet, making himself look more imposing, authoritative. "I mean to set a trap," he said carefully. "Their complacency is their weakness. They can get here easily, and they captured me once; they will assume that they can do it all again. But next time, I will be ready."

"Well excuse me if that doesn't fill me with confidence," Fury retorted. "How will you know? They could come back at any time."

Loki shook his head. "I made them a promise. They will monitor events on Earth as best they can from their great distance, and when they see that I will not do what I promised them I would – that is when they will come for me."

Tony cleared his throat. "You know how I hate to make things about me, but even if Loki was gone, they'd still come back here for me. They're none too pleased about the nuke I sent them."

Fury stared at Loki. "What exactly is your plan? What is it you told them that you would do?"

Loki then rattled off an account as convincing as it was false of what he had promised the Other, claiming that he would make another of SHIELD's bases vulnerable to attack, by disabling all of its electronic systems and then sending out a signal. He concluded, "I told them that it would take me some time to earn your trust. They have given me two weeks."

Fury nodded. "So what do we need to do in the meantime?"

"You need not do anything," Loki replied, easily. "You are superfluous to requirements. I will simply not do as I promised them and they will come back for me here – and Stark, Thor and I will be waiting."

Clint interjected, "And what are we supposed to do if the Chitauri actually show up at the base in two weeks?"

"They will not," Loki promised. "When they do not receive a signal, they will know I failed them. They already do not trust me. They will not risk their lives to get into your heavily guarded base when they will suspect that I have lied about the entire situation."

Clint frowned. "And what exactly is it that they think they will be stealing?"

"Information," Loki smirked. "I made them some grand promises about secret codes and devices which could get them control of every institution of power in this realm. Then," he shrugged disinterestedly, "they could take whatever they wanted from you to exact their revenge. It matters not to me."

Clint shook his head in exasperation. "It would be better if they were going to the base, not to the centre of New York. You're gambling with all these people's lives."

"It is not gambling when I know that I will win."

"What, like you won last time?"

Lightning fast, Loki swept forward and pushed Clint back against the bar, hand at his throat.

"Loki!" Thor grabbed hold of him and pulled him back.

In that instant, Fury and Hill had drawn their weapons, and the atmosphere was tense, nerves stretched to breaking point.

Tony attempted to lighten the mood, shouting at Loki, "That's it, go to your room!"

Loki was unable to stop himself from smiling, though it was a disconcerting, unhinged sort of smile. "Oh, you will pay for that."

"I look forward to it," Tony grinned back.

"Stark," Fury interrupted.

"Yeah?"

Fury was looking between them in stunned silence, and then turned to Thor. "Get him out of here."

Thor nodded and roughly led Loki away.

"Stark," Fury said again, angrily. "This is not a joke."

Tony stood wearily and made his way to the bar, pouring himself a much needed drink. "It's been fun," he said, dismissively. "But I feel like hell. I need to drink something, eat something, shower, and sleep. Unless you want to watch, you all might as well be going."

Fury nodded curtly. "Fine. But don't talk to Loki until I've debriefed him."

Tony scoffed at the thought of Loki being _debriefed_. Fury would probably know less by the end of a conversation with Loki that he would at the beginning – that was the way it was with Loki.

Tony definitely had more information about Loki than he had a few days earlier, much more, but he still felt as if he _knew_ less. Loki had got them out of the clutches of the Chitauri – he had got both of them out, alive and unharmed. The Chitauri didn't exactly strike Tony as they type to _let people go_, just like that.

Tony thought he should probably be grateful to Loki... but somehow, he wasn't. Loki's explanation of what he had promised the Other didn't sit right with Tony, though he was too tired to put his finger on why, exactly. Loki had been one step ahead of him all the while, everything with Loki was some kind of trick or scheme. Manipulating people may be Loki's particular brand of genius, but that didn't mean that Tony was going to let himself be strung along. Exhausted as Tony was, he decided that if he was going to have any more to do with Loki, then it was time to change the balance of power.

* * *

A/N: Do not dismay, fellow car bores, I know full well that the race you see Tony driving in during Iron Man 2 was not a Formula 1 race, but I figure that Stark has a team in F1 _as well_. Why? Because he's Tony Stark, that's why.


	13. A Plan Within a Plan Leading to a Trap

**13: A Plan Within a Plan Leading to a Trap**

By the next day, Tony felt reasonably well-rested and much recovered. And more than that, he had a plan.

Loki had been returned to his previous _cell_ in the apartment below. His room had been cleaned up and graced with a new window while he'd been gone, which for some reason irritated him, but it did mean that he could be kept in the same place as before. They were not going to go out on community service on this day, as it even took time for Loki to recover his "magical energy", whatever that was, after he had brought them home.

Loki had been brought out to the living area to speak with Director Fury, though Fury was gone by the time Tony got there. Thor was gone as well, temporarily, to speak to Jane. Apparently it was something urgent.

Tony sat opposite Loki, sizing him up. Loki looked back at him with a smug little smile, sitting low in the seat with his legs splayed apart, making it kind of impossible _not_ to check him out. Tony was trying to work out how the hell he felt about the guy nowadays; m_ixed feelings_ was an understatement, but now that he felt better, the one thing of which Tony was certain was that lust was still in the mix somewhere.

"Was it true?" Tony asked, carefully. "Did the negotiation between you and the Other really go down the way you said?"

"Of course," Loki replied, smoothly.

Tony frowned. He never really expected Loki to just _tell_ him, but hey, it was worth a shot. "It just seems like one hell of a sketchy, half-assed plan. Why do they care about that SHIELD base? What do they think is in there that they want? The secret code thing seems a little vague."

Loki shrugged. "They're not all that bright."

Tony allowed himself a laugh, but inside, he was sure that Loki was lying to him. What about, Tony had no idea. He decided to pretend that he was convinced and switch gears. "So, do I get to see your princess transformation again?"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted no more to do with me?"

"Well... maybe I want more to do with _her._"

Loki smiled and quietly changed himself back to his female form with a soft glow of golden light complete with the tight green and black dress he had been wearing before. As he did it he brought his legs together and crossed one over the other. "See," Tony said, "it's not so hard to sit like a lady. Usually, you sit like a whore."

Loki rolled his – or her – eyes. Tony asked thoughtfully, "Doesn't that use a lot of magical energy?"

Loki shook her head, sending waves through the dark hair which now came down almost to her waist. "This form is best described as the physical embodiment of the feminine aspects of my character," she replied, "I am still, essentially, myself."

Tony raised his eyebrows. _Fucking magic_. "So am I in for a surprise when I get those clothes off you? Is this a trap?"

"_When _you get my clothes off?" Loki grinned.

"Loki!" Thor's booming voice snapped Tony back to reality. Thor had returned and walked over to Loki and grumbled, "Brother, please, what are you doing?" and with that glanced at Tony. Tony quickly realised that Thor had at least half worked out what was going on here; that Loki was taking on a female form with the intention of seducing Tony and then manipulating him... hopefully Thor was not aware that Loki had already been successful with the seduction aspect of that perfectly well as a man.

"Just a bit of fun," Loki looked flirtatiously at Tony, leaning back on the couch and pushing her chest forward slightly, under the clear observation of Thor. "I know this is yet another of my abilities which is frowned upon in Asgard..."

Thor looked at him seriously. "You promised father, no shape-shifting."

"Fine, no more shape-shifting. Then I suppose I shall just have to stay like this."

Thor sighed and looked around as if someone else may see them. Feigning indifference, badly, he said, "As you wish. Tony," he got Tony's attention and led him away, to the apartment's other bedroom.

Once there, Thor warned him, without a hint of amusement or irony, "My brother is extraordinarily skilled in manipulating people. He has used this... this particular trick to his advantage before. He is _not_ a woman."

"Oh, _I know_," Tony replied, "people don't get much more masculine than that. Perhaps later he'll throw some trees and wrestle a bear to the ground."

Thor allowed himself a smile. "Loki can be most amusing. But," he hesitated, "it would be unwise for you to get... too close to him."

Tony pretended to be oblivious to what was being implied. "You know, it would probably help him to make some friends."

Thor took this on board. "You are right," he said, "but you must be careful. You cannot take Loki's words at face value, all his words, all his actions may be a deception. You have to think about this at all times when you are with him." As the God of Thunder looked earnestly at Tony, he realised how much it pained Thor to speak of his own brother in this way, to have to warn people off him. Tony felt like until recently, despite knowing of Loki's ability to deceive, Thor himself had probably trusted Loki. There was none of that now, however; Thor was cautious, and reluctant to believe a word Loki said. There was something incredibly sad about that.

Thor concluded, "Be civil to Loki, of course, but it is dangerous to spend time alone with him. Please, just stay away from him."

* * *

Tony returned to his apartment and got to work. "Jarvis."

"Yes sir?"

"Have you finished the forcefield calculations?"

"I have, sir. It would require a great deal of power to generate the kind of forcefield you are attempting to create, but it is possible."

"Everything is possible – apparently..." Tony said, mainly to himself. He was attempting to replicate the kind of forcefield that had nullified Loki's magic in the Chitauri cell, despite having no data to go on or any idea of the technology involved. He smiled to himself, thinking, _If anyone can do this, I can_.

There was something deeply satisfying for him about having something to do, about knowing what he was doing and having some kind of clearly defined goal to work towards: work out a way to constrain Loki. Tony never knew when he might need to resort to such a measure; Loki remained dangerous, mercurial, an unknown element, a chaotic variable. He had to have a fail-safe, a back-up, some way to come back at him if they should ever have another _spat_, as Fury may say.

While he worked, Tony thought back to what Thor had told him. Spending time with Loki was dangerous – well, Tony already knew that. He had always known. For Loki to hack into his computer systems had been an abuse of the privilege and comfort that he had already been granted, and making some kind of deal with the Other was risky. But Loki _had_ got them out of the custody of the Chitauri, and apparently had a plan to resolve the problem of their quest for vengeance for good. On balance, he was, pretty much, for the time being, back in Tony's good books.

Quite apart from that, Tony _missed_ him – far more than he ever expected to. And it wasn't just the sex, either, though that was the main thing on Tony's mind. It was also the rapport they had together, the way that Loki would smile, his wit, his stupid little laugh.

Whether Loki could possibly be regarded as a friend was debatable. He wasn't a friend Tony could trust, but as a powerful billionaire Tony was rather au fait with the idea of not necessarily trusting those he regarded as friends. Tony had few real friends. Hell, Obadiah Stane, had betrayed him, and he was a man Tony had known and trusted all his adult life. People tried to use Tony all the time, and they failed – generally. Tony knew how to deal with it by this point, he knew how to be on guard. He could handle Loki.

Tony had, of course, in no sense forgiven Loki for all that the god had done to New York, to him and his friends, to Coulson, to all those other innocent people. Loki was his enemy, and he would remain his enemy. But hey, as the saying goes; _keep your friends close, and your enemies closer_.

* * *

Much later in the day, in the evening, Tony entered the apartment in which Loki lived, crossing from the kitchen to his room. This had become oddly habitual, familiar, though he had only done it a few times. The door to Loki's room was ajar, so he pushed it open without knocking and went inside.

Loki was facing away from him, lying on his stomach on the bed, reading a book. Tony immediately felt his pulse quicken, just looking at the curve of Loki's ass, the way his back swept up to his shoulders where his raven black hair bunched together, a few strands of it escaping down each side of his head.

Loki did not turn round. "I told you you'd be back," he said blithely. Tony said nothing and pushed the door closed.

Loki glanced casually over his shoulder, but then turned back for another look. Tony was dressed in his jeans and sleeveless black shirt, still feeling warm from the work he had been doing on the electronic equipment he planned to use to scan Loki. Loki rolled onto his back, propping himself up on his elbows. "What _have_ you been doing?"

"Science," Tony replied. "You don't need to worry your pretty little head about it, princess."

Loki rolled his eyes, but then bit his lip and looked Tony over. "Those clothes look excellent on you, Stark."

"I know."

"Do you know where they would look better?"

Tony couldn't help it, he laughed and stole Loki's punchline. "On the floor? That's a classic."

Loki pursed his lips but was unable to keep himself from smiling. "I suppose you have said something similar to a few women in your time."

"Honestly, no. That's a terrible line, Loki. I'm far more witty than that, come on." He sidled over to Loki, sitting on the bed next to him. "So, you going to gender swap?"

Loki looked down at the blanket, absent-mindedly playing with the corner of it in his fingers. "Are you bored with me as I am?"

Tony was a little thrown off by the question. "No, of course not," he found himself saying.

Loki grinned. "I have done much for you, Stark," he bit his lip, "you know that at some point I will have you repay me."

Tony smiled. "Everything you've done 'for' me has been just what you wanted. I don't _owe_ you. You betrayed my trust; you owe me."

Loki thought about this for a moment. "Yes," he said, taking Tony by surprise. "I suppose I do." He smiled and roughly grabbed hold of the front of Tony's shirt with his long slender fingers, drawing him in.

Tony let himself be drawn in. He tried to convince himself that he had some kind of rational reason for it: that Loki would trust him more this way, that the closer Tony was, the better able he would be to figure out what Loki had planned – but it wasn't really about any of that. It was about the way that Loki kissed him, the way his fingers trailed over Tony's skin drawing up goosebumps and sending little shivers though the rest of his body, the way that Loki seemed to practically worship him – physically, at least.

He didn't plan to spend the night with Loki, but when they would collapse next to each other Tony couldn't quite bring himself to get up and leave, and the sight of Loki next to him kept him awake – it was always enough to re-ignite the raw sexual desire that burned within him. And Loki was always ready for more – more than ready – voracious, insistent, insatiable, clawing at his skin, pressing his body against Tony's, unashamedly wanton and brazen. It was straightforward, for once – the pure physicality of it a release of its own.

But more than that, Tony was, inexplicably, relieved to have Loki back. He wanted to tell Loki so as they lay there together, their breathing returning to a steady pace, but he couldn't. He couldn't admit to Loki, he couldn't even admit properly to himself, how it felt for them to be together like this again. Loki could tell that he was keeping something back. "Something on your mind, Stark?"

"You," Tony said simply, and that was true enough. He planted little kisses on Loki's neck, pressing his body against that of the god.

Loki chuckled a little, taking in a deep breath. "Making up for lost time, are we?"

Tony lightly trailed his fingers over Loki's hip, feeling him tense a little; more responsive, more sensitive than usual after all the stimulation he had already had. "Getting tired?" Tony asked.

Loki scoffed. "As much as it would amuse me, I do not suggest you make this into some kind of competition as to who has the most stamina. I will always win."

"Is that right?" Tony ghosted his fingers over Loki's body, taking one of his nipples between his fingers, rolling the nub between his fingertips. A low sound rose in Loki's throat and he held Tony's side firmly. "Shower," Tony told him, his mind too clouded with lust to say anything more coherent.

Loki looked back at him combatively, silently reminding Tony not to order him to do things. Tony just broke into a smile and pushed him by the shoulder. "Come on." Loki hauled himself out of bed with mock resentment and they made their way into the shower together. Tony turned the water on and it heated up quickly. Loki tipped his head back and let it rush over him, apparently not averse to the heat.

Loki pulled Tony close as the hot jet of water poured over them, surrounding them with steam. He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and Tony simply watched him, suddenly struck by how he looked, as if he was seeing him for the very first time. Loki regarded him curiously through those eyes that seemed to change colour, at this particular moment shining with more green than usual, behind long lashes, a few of them sticking together from the moisture.

Tony held the side of his face, rubbing his thumb over Loki's cheekbone before moving down to his lips which seemed to stand out from his exquisitely pale skin. Tony found himself enraptured by every detail of those lips that he had kissed so many times already. His eyes snapped back up to Loki's to see the god watching him just as intently, sweeping over Tony's face, pushing his hair back with one hand to hold him by the back of the head, pulling him in for a kiss. Loki deliberately explored every detail of Tony's mouth with his lips and his tongue, holding him there against him with an unusual stillness and calmness, by their standards.

It seemed as though they were there for hours – and perhaps they were. Tony didn't know how late it had got and he didn't care. They rubbed shower gel over each other, ostensibly to get clean, but more to feel their hands sliding easily over each other's skin. Tony wanted only to feel the curves of Loki's body under his hands, becoming familiar to him now. Loki's slender fingers explored his back, tracing the line of his spine, coyly proceeding down Tony's ass, flitting lightly over the backs of his thighs. Tony rested his head against Loki's shoulder, water cascading over his head, not quite willing to invite Loki to take things any further, not at all sure whether he wanted him to, but definitely not able to tell him to stop. Loki softly pressed his fingers between Tony's legs, a fingertip pressed lightly against Tony's hole, slowly massaging the entrance in small circles.

Loki pressed his finger inside, and Tony's eyes snapped up at him. They didn't exactly have a lot of trust or agreed boundaries here, in fact, they didn't really have _any_, and what had so far passed for a tenuous, tacit sexual understanding balanced on a knifedge. A smile crept over Loki's face as he wordlessly dared Tony to lie to him and say that he wasn't enjoying that, that he wanted Loki to stop. Tony would say no such thing, taking Loki's cock in his hand. Loki eagerly did the same for him – and by that point there had been so much build up that they barely needed anything more to get close. Tony leaned up to kiss Loki, and Loki pushed further into Tony, continuing the exquisite slow circling, which felt so good inside him, better than he should probably let Loki know – but the feeling overtook his thoughts. Loki's finger brushed over his prostate, sending a shock through Tony's body like a jolt of electricity, and Loki kept up an even pace, managing to hit it again, and again, and again, stroking his cock all the while. The steamy air seemed to suddenly become hot and heavy around Tony as he found himself breaking the kiss. He rested his head against Loki's shoulder, holding tightly to his back with his free hand as he felt his knees go weak, and he pushed his hips down hard on Loki's hand as he finally came.

Loki followed soon after, and they lazily cleaned themselves off before stepping out of the shower. Tony definitely expected Loki to make some snarky remark about Tony being submissive, but he said nothing of the sort. The thought suddenly struck Tony that perhaps _he_ was the one for whom this was all about power, when for Loki all it was about was pleasure, fun, and nothing else mattered.

Tony watched as Loki attempted to dry the tangled mess of black hair atop his head and they exchanged a smile, in comfortable, tired quiet. When Tony got back into bed with him a few minutes later, he was practically asleep when his head hit the pillow, content exhaustion rushing up to meet him, wrapping itself around him, blanketing him with sleep.


	14. Desperate to Connect

**14: Desperate to Connect**

Loki was a liar. Loki lied about anything and everything if it suited his purposes. He manipulated the emotions of anyone who put any faith in him at all – that much was clear from how consistently Loki would exploit Thor's ever-hopeful trust and affection. Loki was calculating and cunning, able to plan ahead, able to sit back and watch as the people around him behaved precisely as he expected and wanted them to, moving themselves ever closer to disaster, and Loki ever closer to achieving his goals. Loki was secretive, duplicitous and mercurial in nature, himself difficult to predict. Loki was an agent of chaos.

Loki was asleep. He had the blanket pulled tightly around him, his hands gathering it just under his chin. His soft pink lips parted, pitch black hair sweeping behind him on the pillow, noticeably fluffier than usual due to being washed, he looked so perfectly harmless and, though it stunned Tony to use the word in his mind, _cute_. Tony had never observed him sleeping before, and lay in silence doing so for some time in the cool room, in the pale light of the morning.

It was strange, really, that although Tony was kind of afraid of Loki, he had never had any trouble sleeping next to him. Perhaps it was simply because he knew that if Loki wanted to kill him, then he just _would_, regardless of whether Tony was awake or asleep. But in this situation it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps Loki feared _him_. Perhaps that was why he had never been asleep while Tony was awake before. Perhaps Loki was only now beginning to feel comfortable. Tony had given a great deal of thought to Loki's mind, and his schemes, but honestly, Loki's _emotions_ had never really entered his head.

Eventually, Loki stirred and his eyes fluttered open, and Tony rubbed his eyes and tried to look as if he had not been staring. "Morning, sleeping beauty," Tony said cheerily, though Loki, not getting the reference, narrowed his eyes in slight confusion. Tony kissed him on the cheek. "Time for work. I have to go."

"Take a day off," Loki said, languidly.

"And do what?" Tony asked.

Loki met his eyes and said nothing, but the glint that shone there told Tony all he needed to know. "Oh, you know I wish I could, but we've got work to do, princess."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "Do not call me that."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

Loki easily pushed him onto his back and held him down, and Tony let his head fall back on the pillow, Loki's tongue trailing lightly over his throat. Tony briefly managed to stop him so that he could contact his assistant, saying that he was flat out exhausted and needed to take a day. This was basically true, though it was best not to mention that Loki took a lot of the responsibility for tiring him out.

Almost instantly he got a call back from Director Fury. "Stark? We want to get back out there, do something productive for this city. It will make you look good."

"I always look good," Tony replied, which earned a smirk from the man lying next to him. "It'll make me look good _tomorrow_. It's just not happening today, okay? I'm not a god, I have to rest."

"Perhaps Thor and Loki could come out..."

Tony put this down, quickly. "I don't think so. When Loki's out with Thor and me, he's outnumbered. Thor has a good hold on him, but our position with the public is pretty precarious. You really want to take the risk, for the sake of one day?"

"Hmm," Fury took a moment. "I suppose you're right, Stark, though I don't like to admit it. Take a day to get your shit together."

"My shit never stopped being together."

Tony could practically _hear_ Fury's withering look as the director hung up the phone.

Tony next contacted Thor, and told him the same thing, encouraging Thor to spend time with Jane. Thor's reply surprised him: he would come to visit Loki for a time first – immediately.

Loki smirked. "You had best hide."

Tony got quickly out of bed, pulling on his clothes, trying to remove any trace of his presence from the room. Loki dressed himself at a more leisurely pace in his casual clothing, taking the time to let his eyes wander over Tony's body.

Thor knocked, though he then pushed open the door without hesitation. Tony leapt into the bathroom and Loki surreptitiously pulled the door closed, shutting him in there. Tony tried to stay quiet as he took a deep breath, his heart racing a little. The risk of getting caught doing something he shouldn't always got him going.

While Thor was in the room, Tony could only hear muffled voices outside, so passed the time thinking about everything he would like to do to Loki once he got out of there. There was the small matter of Tony needing to pee as a matter of some urgency, but he was not confident that he could do that without Thor hearing him.

It seemed to be a long time before Thor left, and Tony went on to imagine what he might say to Maya Hansen at Future Pharm next time he contacted her to talk about Extremis, and even resorted to reading the labels of a few bottles. When Tony finally heard Thor leave, he immediately took the opportunity to relieve himself and wash his hands and face before emerging again.

As soon as he left the bathroom, it was clear that the mood had changed. Something in Loki's body language – or perhaps it was the damn _magic_ – meant that whatever mood he was in suffused the room, washing over and dragging under whoever else happened to be present. In this case, Loki had returned to bed, facing away from Tony, the covers drawn tightly over himself, and Tony understood instantly and fully that Loki was in the grip of an intense sadness.

Tony sat on the edge of the bed. "You okay?" Loki made no response, nothing but silence.

Tony sighed and stood up. "If you want me to leave you alone for a while, that's fine, I will. I'm not out to upset a temperamental murderer." _Oh_. Tony knew as he said it that he had gone too far, that that wouldn't be taken in the light-hearted, offhand way that he had intended. There was a flash of fear, too, in case Loki lashed out. But none of that happened. Loki took in a deep breath, but apart from that, nothing.

"I'm sorry," Tony mumbled, turning to go. "I'll check on you later."

He made it to the door before he heard Loki's strained voice – "Tony." Tony turned. Loki said, softly, without turning to face him, "Come back."

Tony complied, reaching the edge of the bed and hesitating. After a moment, he climbed in next to Loki, sliding up close behind him. He rested a hand on Loki's shoulder, and felt the toned muscles beneath his shirt tense, and then relax. Loki took hold of his hand and pulled it forward, beckoning Tony closer. Tony soon moved to lie immediately behind Loki, chest pressed against his back, legs tucked into the fold of his, wrapping his arm around Loki.

They remained like that for a long time, still, silent. Tony was pretty sure that Loki had probably been crying or was at least pretty upset, and wouldn't let Tony see it. Tony had no idea how he would react if he did see it. What can anyone do to help a god who is reduced to tears? Tony hadn't exactly signed up for emotional intimacy when he had got involved with his former enemy, or his current enemy, as the case may be.

Eventually, Loki straightened out his body and turned around, Tony allowing him the space, so that they could lie facing each other. Loki didn't look as if he'd been crying, but then, they had been there for a while. Tony had to break the silence. "So, you want to watch a movie or something?"

Loki frowned. "No..." He opened his mouth as if to say something and met Tony's eyes, hesitating for a long moment. "Thor and I..."

Tony interjected, "You're brothers," he gave Loki's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure you'll work it out."

"But he–" Tony silenced Loki by kissing him and stroking Loki's hair, which ran softly between his fingers and smelled faintly of shampoo.

"Come on," Tony murmured, "I'll cheer you up," and kissed Loki again, moving closer.

Loki spoke in between kisses, "It is not... that... simple... _Stark_." He pushed Tony back by the shoulder, studying him intently.

Tony let his eyes wander down Loki's body, pulling up his shirt a little, letting his fingers dance over the god's cool, soft skin. When he met Loki's eyes again Loki still appeared forlorn, distracted. Tony smiled and Loki's face twitched slightly with the instinctive desire to smile back at him. Tony moved closer, attempting reassurance again, "It'll be okay, Loki." Loki reluctantly closed his eyes and let Tony kiss him again, a moment later embracing the action and the man willingly, losing himself in the physical comfort.

Tony felt much better to be back in familiar territory with Loki: sex was the one thing that the two of them could definitely do. Loki insistently pushed him onto his back and got on top of him, peeling his clothes off, his fingers cool against Tony's exposed flesh.

Loki kissed him and pressed himself down, heavier than anyone with such a lithe frame should be, imposing himself. Tony soon found his breath coming in short, shallow gasps as Loki's hands made their way over his body, ghosting over the sensitive skin at his hip bones, pressed flat against his body with harder pressure in his fingertips, Loki always close against him. Loki maintained their kiss all the while and Tony hardly had time to breathe between the slow, forceful movements of Loki's tongue. He held onto Loki tightly, running his hands down his back, pulling his hips down, writhing and moaning, at the mercy of Loki's sensuality.

Perhaps because of all the times Tony had taken him the night before, it was easy to prepare Loki; he accepted Tony's fingers inside him readily, eagerly, and Tony thought smugly to himself that Loki literally couldn't seem to get enough of him. Loki was always wanting him, always wanting to have Tony's cock inside him, and damn, it was hot for Tony to be _wanted_ like that, to be the object of such rapacious, fervent desire. Whatever duplicity Loki had in mind, physically, there could be no doubt that this was real for him, that he truly enjoyed it, truly craved it.

Loki's eyes fell closed and he let out a little whimper as Tony pressed himself against Loki's entrance, sliding into him easily, filling him. Loki looked down at him keenly as they began to move, Loki meeting every one of Tony's thrusts with movements back of his own, taking him in to the hilt each time. Tony went to touch him, but Loki stopped him. "No," Loki said, pulling his hand away, "I just want this, I only need this..." Tony accepted, letting both hands rove over Loki's body, losing himself to the feeling. He closed his eyes, lay back on the pillows, and there was nothing else, nothing but this, nothing but Loki.

"Look at me," Loki ordered him. Tony opened his eyes and met Loki's, momentarily transfixed. Loki was looking down at him with such longing, his eyes shining a little with the pain of how much he _needed_ Tony– _Or so it would appear_, Tony reminded himself, closing his eyes, pulling Loki down closer and planting a kiss on his lips.

He broke away to nuzzle at Loki's neck, losing himself in the tangle of black hair. He felt Loki's breath against his ear, the graze of teeth over his skin, but Loki did not bite him this time. He traced the shell of Tony's ear slowly with his tongue, and all Tony could hear was Loki drawing a deep, shaking breath, before "Tony..."

Tony moaned involuntarily, the movement of his hips pure instinct now as the room seemed to shrink around them, Loki enveloping him, consuming him. Their eyes met and they made some wordless agreement, and Tony was soon on top, Loki's legs around his waist. This was nothing like the last time they had been in this position, though, there was no aggression to it, only slow, tender movement. Loki pulled Tony in for another kiss and if he didn't know better, Tony would say that they were _making love_ right now...

Tony raised himself up a little and increased his pace, Loki arching his back and throwing his head back, exposing the column of his throat, making himself open and vulnerable beneath Tony. Tony couldn't resist leaning down with the intention of biting him, but instead found himself kissing Loki's neck, licking over his adam's apple, tasting him.

Loki tightened around him and his moans got louder, his arms firmly around Tony's shoulders, pulling him close against his body. Loki rolled his hips sensuously in response to Tony's thrusts, getting both of them close. Tony lost himself to the feeling, moving without control or thought, feeling Loki clench around him every time Tony hit his prostrate, inspiring those helpless moans and whimpers in his ear. Just as he felt Loki's come between them Tony got his release with Loki's body tight around him in every way, merging them impossibly close together.

Tony breathlessly withdrew and found himself lying half on top of Loki, head on his chest, Loki's arms around him, and he didn't have the strength to move. All he could hear was Loki's breathing, all he could feel were Loki's fingers running though his hair as the tired contentment washed over him, and, within moments, saw that he was asleep.

* * *

Tony knew when he woke that not much time had passed. He got off Loki to lie next to him, Loki watching him lazily all the while. Loki then brought himself closer and wrapped an arm around Tony, kissing him, looking intently into his eyes.

This was weird. Loki was no longer looking at him as if they were fuck-buddies, which was what Tony figured they were, but as if they were _lovers_. And that, they definitely weren't. They couldn't be. Tony looked away and sort of patted Loki awkwardly on the shoulder. "Hey," he said casually, "let's do something. There are so many movies you need to see, that you'll enjoy."

Loki snuggled up against him, eyes closed. "No," he said softly. "I'm sure nothing could interest me as much as you do."

_Damn, how do I argue with that?_ Tony thought to himself.

Loki was quiet for a moment, before he started to explain, without any kind of invitation, what he and Thor had been talking about. Long story short: Thor was disappointed in him and his behaviour, despite Loki's supposed best efforts to behave himself. "Mischief is in my nature," Loki said, looking intently at Tony, who had been listening in silence. "Do you understand?"

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly he forgot all words, and had no idea what to say. He never really expected him and Loki to end up having a conversation like this.

Loki sighed in exasperation. "Really, Stark, it is as if I'm talking _at_ you rather than to you."

Tony gulped. "I'm just... I'm not great at this sort of thing."

Loki was silent for a moment, wrapping his arm around Tony and pulling him in for another embrace. Tony had no idea that a god could actually be so... _clingy_. Tony said vaguely, "I guess the relationship between you and Thor is kind of... intense."

"That would be an understatement," Loki replied. "Much has passed between us. I am sure it would be impossible for a mortal to understand." He paused, and went on anyway, "Thor has loved me for over a thousand years," he said softly. "And he will love me a thousand more. I do not believe that he could stop, even if he should."

"If he _should_?" Tony felt a pang of empathy in his chest at that; even though he knew little about brotherly love, and less about Thor and Loki specifically, he knew that the notion of Loki believing that Thor should not love him was just desperately sad.

Loki nodded. "I am a Frost Giant. At the very core of my being I am an enemy of Asgard and I always will be. Thor once intended to slay them all."

"_Once_. So he's changed?"

Loki drew his brows together thoughtfully. "So he says." His eyes snapped to Tony's. "How much do you know of my actions prior to coming here, what I did in Asgard?"

Tony gulped. "Well, I know you tried to destroy Jotunheim, where the Frost Giants live. I'm guessing that would have slain them all."

"It would," Loki answered, without emotion. Tony felt a chill at the thought of Loki as a perpetrator of attempted genocide. How could he possibly feel anything, even lust, for someone who had committed such crimes? As if Loki knew what Tony was thinking, he volunteered information that Tony did not know. "When I failed," he said softly, averting his eyes from Tony, "when Thor destroyed the Bifrost, it is said by him that I _fell_ into the abyss at the edge of the world. I later accused him of tossing me into the abyss. The truth is," he paused, "the truth is, I let go."

Loki then stared into Tony's eyes with a blazing intensity, as if Tony was looking directly at the visceral pain of Loki's mind – the internalised racism of his society against his race, the belief that he was no longer a part of his own family – without saying it, with only a look, Loki was able to convey this to Tony. If Tony didn't know better, he would say it was some kind of direct link between them, some kind of thought transference... but that was impossible.

Loki concluded, "If you are uncomfortable with knowing that I attempted genocide, know that after I realised what I had done, I let myself fall into the abyss. Truly, I attempted to kill myself."

Tony took in a sharp, deep breath, and looked away, not able to deal with the overwhelming _presence_ of Loki anymore. Suicide was a concept that terrified him, that his conscious mind shied away from, refused to deal with. It never stopped freaking him out that Bruce Banner attempted suicide – the very idea that that guy might not be in the world anymore...

But what really scared him was that he was no better, maybe worse. The untimely death of his parents when Tony had been only a young man had left him with a terrible emotional pain, and Tony could never willingly inflict that on anyone else. But that didn't stop him from committing acts of reckless self-endangerment, for reasons that even he was not sure of. He had always simply thought himself an adrenaline junkie, he was excited by danger, he got off on it. Tony had so few people close to him so that as few people as possible would be hurt, if something did ever happen to him.

He tried to keep his voice even as he asked Loki, "So when you ended up... wherever it was that you were... it was almost like coming back from the dead."

Loki nodded and an expression of profound relief came to him, feeling that Tony understood. "I was not in my right mind," he said desperately. "I was not of Asgard, I was not of Jotunheim, everyone I had ever known believed me dead. Do you know the one thing I did have, the one thing that I knew about myself?" Tony shook his head, and Loki explained, "I was a king. That was what I was raised to be. I had a divine right to be a king, yet I did not have a throne. And I'm sure you can see how events escalated from there."

Tony sat up in the bed. This entire conversation had got seriously intense. Everything about this was just too much; he had to get out of here. Loki ran a hand up Tony's arm, gazing up at him. Tony met his eyes and realised how sorry he felt for Loki, immediately forcing this back, fighting it off, with anger. "You're still responsible," he snapped, abruptly.

Loki's face fell. "I know," he said quietly. "I know."

Tony got up, pulled on his clothes and wandered toward the door. He needed to put some distance between them, literally and figuratively, right now. Loki softly asked where he was going. "I just... I just need to get some air," Tony explained.

Loki sat in silence with the blanket held up to his chest, watching Tony go, watching the closest thing to a friend that he had, leave the room.

In the disconsolate silence that followed, Loki could not help but reconsider.

It had certainly occurred to him to just _tell_ Tony all about the fact that he had promised to acquire Extremis for the Other, but he could not be sure that Tony would go along with the plan. Loki could be persuasive, but the fact remained that Tony wanted Extremis for himself and would not willingly give it up for the plan that Loki had in mind. It would also mean revealing that Loki had lied to him so far, and confirm that Tony had been right to be suspicious of him all along. Then, he would not be receptive. Loki had started out by lying, and now he would have to stick with it. The only thing to do was to get Tony to trust him. If he could.


	15. With All My Education

**15: With All My Education**

Tony woke with a start when Jarvis informed him that it was 7am, time to get up, time to get back to the grindstone. Tony never got round to going to see Loki again the previous day, and then, the longer he left it, the more awkward he figured it would be. He lost himself in his work and drank more alcohol than was probably advisable for someone attempting to operate a blowtorch. He procrastinated and delayed until finally, uneasily, falling asleep. As far as he could tell he had lain down, blinked, and it was morning. That was almost as bad as the nightmares. Almost.

He met up with Loki and Thor on the helipad of Stark Tower. They were back to business as usual. There was always more for them to do, more repairs for them to make to the buildings of New York City.

Tony didn't get much of an opportunity to talk to Loki out of earshot of Thor. They worked together and spoke about what they were doing just as they usually would, but it was a few hours before there was an opportunity to talk between themselves.

Tony raised the mask of his suit. "You want to come over tonight?" he asked, struck as he spoke by the incongruity of asking an imprisoned war criminal up to his apartment.

Loki seemed hesitant. Tony continued, "Does it work like that? Can I invite you in advance?"

"I do not think so," Loki said flatly.

"I'll see you later, then," Tony promised. Loki looked at him carefully but said nothing.

Loki seemed tired, weaker and less vital than usual, which presumably was due to the energy he expended travelling back from the Chitauri asteroid to Earth. Nevermind his tricks and illusions, Tony really wanted to know how the hell Loki had done _that_. When he asked, though, Loki shrugged and said that it would be impossible for him to explain and even more impossible for Tony to understand.

_We'll just see about that_. Tony was determined to get a better understanding of Loki, and not merely so that he had some more effective means of fighting and detaining him. Loki was endlessly fascinating, and Tony's mind devoted itself to him. He needed to get Loki in his apartment again, he needed to be with him – insisting to himself that this was so that he could study him.

* * *

"How's it coming, Jarvis?"

"You are as ready as you'll ever be, sir."

Tony sat back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. After the day's work was done, he had come up with a basic program for scanning Loki, to try and figure out how the hell his magic worked. Talking him into being studied at close range would be tricky, but he had equipped the room with sensors to take preliminary data. Once he had that, he might have some idea of what he was looking for. Now all he needed was the madman himself.

Tony went down to Loki's apartment via the stairwell and invited him upstairs, an offer which Loki gladly accepted. "I require food," Loki informed him, "if I am to be any kind of company."

"Don't worry, I got us food."

Loki followed him upstairs, his eyes scanning the apartment attentively, as if trying to memorise all he saw there – all the scattered components of possible improvements to the Iron Man suit, random circuits, tools, equipment...

He was soon distracted, however, by the food that Tony had had sent up; a ham and plenty of vegetables. His eyes widened and he sat down in silence, apparently amazed. It was a lot of food, but Tony was pretty curious as to how much Loki could eat. Loki cut a slice of ham for himself and began immediately, and for a few moments they didn't speak.

Then, suddenly, Loki looked at him with something approaching embarrassment. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"You're welcome," Tony shrugged. "How does this compare to Saehrimnir?"

Loki laughed at the reference to the immortal pig of Norse mythology that the Aesir killed and ate every night, resurrecting it to eat it again the next day. "Nothing compares to Saehrimnir," he replied, knowingly.

After a moment of quietly keeping each other company and eating, Loki glanced down at Tony's hand. "What is that?"

"Oh," Tony looked down at the somewhat worn ring on his hand. "That's the ring I got when I graduated MIT."

"What is MIT?"

"It's a college."

Loki looked at him blankly. "A... place of learning?"

"Yeah," Tony replied, not sure what Loki was not getting here. "You must have education in Asgard."

"Of course," Loki replied. "I have learned from many tutors."

Tony rolled his eyes. "_Tutors_. Of course you have; you're a prince. Us mere mortals learn things in groups, for the most part."

Loki thought for a moment. "Everyone in Asgard can have as much education as they please. We tutor each other, we share knowledge, also in groups, as you say."

Tony widened his eyes. "So you've taught people things? I don't like the sound of that..."

Loki smiled, and explained further. "In Asgard, much of our education is competitive and oppositional; one learns with the aim of defeating others at things, be it combat, sorcery, or debate. One learns first through failure. I have taught people things in the sense that people have learned from me how to defend themselves against sorcery, though few have ever defeated me. It was the same for Thor, with fighting. I think this is probably why those who are the best at things in Asgard can be so arrogant. The gifted require challenges. When none are present, we tend to seek them out."

This sparked quite a long conversation while they ate about Loki's adolescence, and Tony's, if you could call it that. They exchanged several anecdotes and much information about their respective societies while Loki ate steadily, long after Tony had had enough. Tony finished another glass of scotch – he had lost count of the number – and observed Loki. "How much more are you going to eat?"

Loki smiled. "I have been starved a long time. I will eat as much as you can put in front of me."

Tony broke into a grin, "In that case, I know exactly what to put in front of you..."

"Explain." Loki frowned, and Tony just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it." Tony poured another drink. "Let's have some music. Jarvis, play something Loki might like."

Jarvis replied, "The only thing I have ever observed Loki to like is you, sir."

They both laughed at that, and Loki commented, thoughtfully, "Perceptive machine you have."

Tony agreed. "Play some Black Sabbath," he told Jarvis, and seconds later the intro to _The Wizard_ filled the room. Tony watched Loki carefully as he listened. "Well, what do you think, prince of darkness?"

Loki shrugged. "I suppose it is tolerable."

"You're _tolerable_." Tony hit him playfully on the arm.

Loki smiled and placed his hand over Tony's on the table, squeezing gently. Tony was struck by how much this was suddenly like a _date_; dinner, soft lighting, hand holding, music – the music was Black Sabbath, but still...

As the song came to an end, Tony asked Jarvis to play more of the same sort of thing.

Jarvis replied, "Do you think you could make your request a little more vague, sir?"

Loki smiled in genuine amusement, and Tony replied, "Oh, you know what I mean by this point, Jarvis."

"All too well, sir," the artificial intelligence replied, next choosing to play _Master of Puppets_ by Metallica.

"Jarvis..." Tony said, "Are you trying to tell me something here?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, sir."

Tony shook his head. "If you play _Cold as Ice_ by Foreigner after this, Jarvis, I swear, I will donate you to work at the returns desk of a small library in Pheonix."

"I would disapprove of that, sir, but I rather think that it would be your loss."

Loki, not being at all familiar with the Metallica song asked Tony to explain. "Don't worry about it," Tony said, dismissing the matter, but Loki listened carefully to the lyrics, all about manipulation.

All Loki had to say was, "Your computer is far too intelligent for its own good."

Tony laughed and took a drink. All the while, Loki kept his hand on Tony's, delicately exploring it, running his fingers over Tony's, tracing the lines of Tony's palm, appearing lost in thought all the while. Tony watched him, and then reached out to push a strand of Loki's hair back, muttering, "You always have this one strand of hair, on this side..."

Loki met his eyes with a smile. "You are most observant."

Tony's hand lingered on the side of Loki's face, and he pulled him in for a kiss, touching his lips just softly with his own, lightly, patiently. Loki linked their fingers together, holding Tony's hand tightly.

Tony broke the kiss and found himself looking into Loki's eyes for a moment; blue infused with green, shining with desire and affection. Loki was giving him _that_ look again, as if he actually cared. Tony wasn't sure which possibility scared him more: that Loki could feign such emotion so convincingly, or that Loki may genuinely feel that way towards him.

Tony got up and pulled Loki's hand to get him to follow. He then held Loki firmly by the hips, pressing the god's body against his own. "Enough romance. Let's fuck."

Loki broke into a grin and wrapped his arms tightly around Tony, meeting his lips in a fierce kiss. He made to lead Tony toward the bedroom, but Tony pushed him down onto the couch. "Here. Now."

Loki glanced toward the wall of glass, through which he could see the Chrysler Building and the rest of New York's skyline. "Can't people see us?"

Tony kissed his way down Loki's neck. "Bit late to ask that now, isn't it?" Tony murmured, crawling on top of him. "If they could, they would already have seen me having dinner with Loki the war criminal."

"Hmm," Loki responded, fingers tangling in Tony's unruly hair. "It feels as if people can see us..."

Loki let go of him and lay back. He took in a deep breath and there was a glow of golden light, and before Tony's eyes there appeared a stunningly beautiful woman in black lace lingerie, decorated with gold and green detailing. Tony let his mouth fall open, a surge of energy heading straight to his groin. "Now," Loki said, her feminine voice back again, "It matters not who sees." She broke into a grin as Tony shook his head.

Tony quickly leaned down to kiss her neck, moving down to her chest... but he couldn't quite get comfortable with it at first, the fact that Loki was female all of a sudden; the same person, and yet completely physically transformed. Tony felt strangely as if he was with someone else entirely, a total stranger. And then Loki's fingers ran through his hair, and she raised her body a little underneath him, and there was something in the way she did it that was familiar; something intrinsically _Loki_.

Loki had chosen to clothe herself in a kind of corset, which laced up at the back, just to be difficult. Tony pulled her to sit and got behind her, sweeping her black hair aside to tumble over her shoulder in so many loose, raven black curls. He kissed the soft skin of her neck, again breathing in that sweeter smell. Loki felt smaller and more delicate in his arms, though in truth she was probably just as strong as ever. Tony bit the soft at the junction between neck and shoulder, inspiring a high-pitched sound of surprise, a sudden tension of Loki's body. He moved on to unlace the corset, held together by fine green bands of silk, his fingers grazing down Loki's spine as more of her body was revealed, making her tremble a little.

"You always wear so many clothes..." Tony mumbled as he got towards the bottom of the corset.

"You are always so impatient," Loki replied, leaning back to look at him. "I like to leave something to the imagination."

Tony met her eyes. "You're a tease."

Loki smirked. "You love it."

Tony maintained eye-contact as he roughly pulled open the final laces, leaving the material loose around Loki's body, though she held it to her chest, not letting it fall away. Tony slid his hands under the material, round to Loki's stomach. "Don't tell me you're shy..."

Loki scoffed but still did not let go. Tony's hand crept up, finally brushing against the bottom curve of one of her breasts, moving up to cup her. It filled his hand perfectly, just like everything else about Loki's body. She was firm and supple underneath his fingers, and little sounds of pleasure escaped her in response to Tony's touches as he rolled her nipple between his fingers, feeling it stiffen. She finally let the corset fall away. Tony quickly pulled off his shirt and lay Loki back down on the couch, getting back on top of her to admire the view. It was easier for him, to be with a woman; it was certainly what Tony was more familiar with, and this was a situation where he knew exactly what to do, he felt confident, in control.

Loki unfastened Tony's belt, eyeing the obvious bulge in his jeans with a little smirk, biting her lip. Tony let his fingers flit over her inner thighs, teasing her, making her squirm a little. When he finally did bring his hand between her legs he could feel how wet she was, soaking through the material, and his erection throbbed in response; he wanted it just as much. He pulled her pants off as quickly as possible just as Loki freed him from the confines of his jeans.

"Now," she said, her voice a low, husky register, hooking her legs around his waist.

Tony pulled his pants down a little further, quickly complying, unashamedly gasping and letting his eyes fall closed when he felt the hot, slick wetness of Loki against his cock. He managed to pause for a second to ask nervously, "You uh... you can't get _pregnant_ from this, can you?"

"No," Loki replied quickly. "Definitely not. It does not work that way."

There was a level on which Tony knew that he should think more carefully about this, but, as always, the prospect of getting laid very much incapacitated his mind for rational thought or making good decisions. He entered her, surrendering himself to the tight, wet heat. Tony swore under his breath and started to move, hardly able to contain himself at the sight of the female Loki underneath him. She had the same eyes, shining under heavy lids as she watched him, desirously, with unabashed lust. "Oh, Stark," she breathed, "this is... there is nothing like this."

Tony kissed her. "Aren't we on first name terms yet?"

"I will call you whatever I please..." she replied, her eyes falling closed as her mouth fell open with a look of rapturous pleasure. She responded to Tony's movements and he slid easily into her, as deep as possible.

Just as Tony was starting to get close, she asked him to stop. "There's something I want to do," she insisted. With great effort, Tony did stop, and let himself be led to sit on a chair from the dinner table. Loki got on top of him, straddling him, a mischievous smirk on her face, level with his. She could control her own movements this way, Tony left only to sit and enjoy it, and hell, if Loki wanted to have her way with him like this, he certainly had no complaints. Just as he felt himself getting close again, Loki slowed down, settling herself to sit on his lap. A sound of frustration escaped Tony before he could stop it.

Loki pulled him sharply by the hair, exposing his neck, and promptly assaulted it with her teeth and tongue, rocking very slightly on top of him. Tony whimpered involuntarily, and Loki's mouth got closer to his ear. She curled her tongue around the earlobe, grazing it with her teeth, and whispered in Tony's ear, "You need it don't you?" her tone was mocking, she was again using Tony's own words against him, the tables turned – not that Tony had any objection at all to hearing her talk dirty. "All the power you think you have over me, and yet here you are –" she raised herself up so that only the head of Tony's cock was inside her – "desperate for my cunt."

Tony moaned helplessly, there was something about hearing Loki swear, the accent, the way words rolled off her tongue. Tony tried to move, but Loki easily held him down in his seat. Tony bit his lip, "You want me to beg you?"

A low laugh rose in Loki's throat, and she slid back down, tortuously slowly, taking Tony inside her. Loki kissed him deeply and Tony felt her fingers move to her clit, touching herself, tightening around him, moans becoming lost in his mouth. Tony got a surge of pleasure, but it wasn't enough, he needed more from her. Loki pressed her forehead against Tony's, saying, breathlessly, "I can get my release from this, Stark, but you can't... it will get you close, but not close enough..."

"Dammit, Loki..." Tony held her hard by the hips, but she was so much stronger than he was, that there was nothing he could do that Loki did not want, there never was. Loki gasped and clenched around Tony from the pleasure of her own touch, and the feel of Tony inside her. Tony gave in. "Please," he breathed, but Loki made no change in her actions, except to moan in his ear, breathing faster. "Please, Loki..." Tony said more loudly, holding her ass tightly.

"Please what?" Loki asked, in a strangled gasp.

"I hate you so much right now..." Tony threw his head back and Loki let out a giggle, and damn if that wasn't sexy in its own bizarre way. "Please... move..." Tony finally said. "Or let me do it to you. I'll– I'll do whatever you want."

Loki moaned in his ear and tightened around him, pulling hard at his hair as she managed to say, breathlessly, "I always come out on top, Stark–" and then, with a sharp gasp she came, and Tony could do nothing but feel as her body tightened around him, a series of spasms the most insufferable pleasure for him, as she just kept him there, close to the edge, taking him no further. Loki leisurely leaned back to look at Tony, who made no attempt to hide the need in his eyes.

The look Loki's face was one of pure bliss, total satisfaction, and a certain mirth at making Tony wait. With a glint in her eye she eased herself off Tony, standing and taking his hands. Tony was swallowed hard, shaking, allowing himself to be led. "Lie down," she told him, pushing him to the floor.

"Loki–"

"Anything I want, you said," she smiled, "I intend to hold you to that."

Tony collapsed with a sigh; this was the most exquisite torture. Loki straddled him, taking his aching cock inside her again, the heat of her overwhelming Tony after the touch of the cooler air of the room. Tony shut his eyes tightly and he gripped hard on her thighs. Loki's hands found Tony's and she linked her fingers with his, slowly beginning to move. "Look at me," she ordered. Tony opened his eyes and she rewarded him with an increase in speed. The vision of her above him now was extraordinary; long raven black hair cascading down over her pert breasts, her taught stomach, her crotch and inner thighs glistening in the light as she moved herself steadily up and down. Tony moaned appreciatively, raising his hips to meet her. "No," Loki said, authoritatively, pressing down on him, ceasing the movement. "You stay still."

Tony bit his lip and closed his eyes again. "Loki..." he almost whined.

"Are you going to do as I say?" she asked, playfully.

"Yes. _Please_." Tony didn't even care at this point that Loki was reducing him to begging; Loki had already reduced him to a trembling mess of desperate pleasure, and Tony cared about nothing else. The ache was becoming almost painful, and he couldn't take it anymore.

Loki began to move again, at a steady pace, increasing in speed gradually, panting and moaning once more. Tony clenched his jaw hard, fighting the urge to move to meet her as he so desperately wanted to, getting closer and closer. Loki took in a sharp breath and Tony felt her tighten around him, close to a second release. The grip of her fingers on Tony's hands became painfully tight as she got faster, more frantic. Tony could feel a sharp throb of pleasure in his cock, and as Loki threw her head back and cried out, "come... come- Tony!" and they came together – Tony's long-awaited climax tearing through him, decimating him, his mind being overcome with the intensity of it.

Tony didn't care at all that he was lying on the hard, cold surface of the floor, far too exhausted to move. Loki caught her breath and moved to lie next to him, her arm over his chest, her fingertips lightly resting on the arc reactor. For a long moment they remained that way, but Tony couldn't quite relax. Now that he was able to think, he had to ask Loki again... "You're _sure_ you can't get pregnant?"

Loki smiled and shook her head – and in one smooth movement stretched and transformed back to his male form. "Certain," he murmured, his velvety, masculine voice back. "I would need to be female for much longer in order to become fertile."

_Become fertile_, Tony thought to himself, a little weirded out by the concept. He nevertheless sighed with relief as Loki's arm returned to his chest. "Cool. Knocking up a male Norse God wasn't exactly on my list of things to do this year. As long as you know what you're doing."

"Oh, Stark," Loki purred, "I know exactly what I'm doing."

They stayed there for a couple of moments before retreating to the bedroom, curling up together in the soft sheets and darkness, not that it was ever truly dark, with the light from Tony's arc reactor. Loki never seemed to mind that, however, gazing at the light as if transfixed by it, the pale blue washing over his ivory skin, shimmering in his eyes.


	16. The Bad Guy

**16: The Bad Guy**

"You have to go, Loki." Tony picked out a shirt and went back over to the bed, where Loki was lounging around in his underwear as if he had all the time in the world.

Loki looked at the shirt in Tony's hands with some amusement, taking it from him. "This is the shirt you were wearing when I threw you out of the window."

Tony realised that it was that same Black Sabbath shirt and descended into laughter – at Loki, at his own apparent insanity.

Loki sat, and pulled the shirt on over his head. It was a little more loose around his slim frame, and it did not got down as far on him. Loki lay down, and when he raised his arms up to stretch, the shirt rode up, revealing the slightly darker hair which trailed down from his belly button, the V-shape of his muscles, the pronounced curve of his hipbones, all drawing Tony's eye downward as these trails disappeared into Loki's underwear. Tony ran his hand over the base of Loki's stomach and held him by the hip. "You look good in my clothes."

"I know." Tony smiled and let his hand travel with the lines of Loki's body, gently cupping his package through the thin material of his pants.

"Subtle as always, Stark," Loki murmured, though Tony could already feel how Loki's body responded to his touch.

"We don't have time to be subtle," Tony countered.

"We don't have time _at all_," Loki told him, but as their eyes met they both knew that they were going to risk it anyway.

* * *

Loki had to leave quickly via the secret stairwell, as it was soon time for Tony to attend another _fun and exciting_ meeting with SHIELD.

The room in use for this was one of the many conference rooms in Stark Tower, and Tony arrived shortly after Director Fury, Maria Hill, and Clint Barton, as well as a couple of other agents he didn't know.

Then, before Tony had sat down, Thor led Loki in. They were both dressed in their Asgardian clothing, and Loki had the cuffs on his wrists, just for good measure: confined space, lots of mortals. The thought suddenly struck Tony that Loki could not only do magic, but shape-shift, so how exactly did those cuffs restrain him? They must have an element to them that blocked magic... he made a mental note to ask Thor to let him have a look at them at some point, so Tony could take them apart and see how they worked.

"Stark," Loki got his attention, and that of everyone else. His eyes flicked downward, "Do you have something in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?"

Tony raised his eyebrows in response to the stunned looks of everyone else in the room and replied, "Both, _princess_."

Loki broke into a grin, and everyone's eyes were on him again, then flitting between the two of them. Tony took out a cell phone, span it around in his fingers, and returned it to his pocket.

Thor cleared his throat. "This is no time for jests, brother." Loki shrugged and casually sat down in his chair, leaning back, looking out of the window like a bored schoolboy. Tony sat down too, though Fury remained standing at the head of the table, next to him.

Fury shook his head in dismay. He looked straight at Loki. "We should make plans for when the Chitauri come for you."

"I already have a plan," Loki shrugged.

"Do you wanna tell us what it is?"

"Not really."

Fury planted both hands on the table and leaned forward. "You invited the Chitauri back to Manhattan. Don't you think we have a right to know what you're going to do?"

"No." Loki replied, impassively.

"Brother," Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder, which earned him a glare. "This is their realm, their home."

"I will tell _you_," Loki conceded, looking at Thor alone. "And Stark. And then you can tell the rest if you wish."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Now you're just being difficult, princess."

Loki shot him one of his old looks, a look of cold menace. "If call me that _one more time_–"

"_Loki_," Thor insisted.

Loki shifted in his chair and sighed as if this were all a terrible inconvenience for him. "Very well," he began, explaining that he planned to let the Chitauri arrive at Stark Tower, where they could land their ship on the helipad. Once there, he, Thor, and Tony would fight them and kill them. "Simple." He concluded.

Clint Barton looked warily down the table at him. "And you really think that will be it?"

Loki returned his look silently. Clint went on, "You plan to kill them. Won't more just come back again, to get revenge for _that_?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "This is, essentially, the last of them. The last of the group led by the Other. Once they're out of the way, the other Chitauri will not make it a priority to come back. They may, one day, if they have nothing better to do. You know little about their affairs if you think that they care a great deal about Midgard or any of the people on it."

They went on to discuss a few of the more technical details, as well as deciding on their agenda for fixing up New York, apparently deciding to work through the weekend. Agent Maria Hill had most of the responsibility for dealing with that, but somehow, she managed to keep her patience with Loki.

In addition to that, there was to be a social event in two days time, on Saturday, hosted by the mayor's office. Loki was provisionally invited, as long as SHIELD could guarantee his good behaviour. The fact was, people were still fascinated with Loki; they wanted to meet him, they wanted to know whether he had really changed. He hadn't, of course. Loki uninterestedly deferred the matter to Thor, and Thor promised that Loki would be kept under control.

Loki was uncooperative throughout, making everyone around him work hard to get any kind of information. As they wrapped things up, Tony called him on it. "Next time we have one of these meetings, you think you could drop the stroppy teenage girl routine?"

"_Next time?_" Loki replied, incredulous. "Please, tell me I don't have to sit through this again."

"I know how you love to screw with people," Tony went on, "but there's a difference between being Machiavellian and just being an ass."

Loki rolled his eyes and made to leave, Thor grabbing hold of his arm and leading him out.

Once he was gone, Fury studied Tony carefully through his one eye. It had not escaped his notice the familiar way in which Tony and Loki had been speaking to each other, the fact that Tony felt comfortable with insulting Loki, that they seemed to make allusions to past conversations. So Fury asked, "How well do you know Loki?"

Tony replied casually, "I know him in the biblical sense."

Clint choked on his drink and spluttered, while the others stared at him in stunned silence. Tony added, "In the sense that I know nothing he says is true or holds together logically."

Director Fury seemed visibly relieved. "He's a homicidal maniac, Stark, for god's sake don't let him charm you into doing something stupid."

Clint interjected, "There are a lot of words I'd use to describe Loki, but _charming_ is not one of them."

"You have no idea," Tony scoffed, thoughtlessly. Clint gave him only a grim look. Of course, Loki had treated him worse than most... sometimes Tony forgot that Loki was the bad guy. And Loki still was just that – the bad guy. Tony realised with a start that he had been forgetting that, these past few days...

Tony took a moment to himself, after SHIELD had gone. He needed to stop and think. Every time he got close to Loki, he completely lost touch with reality. Loki became all he thought about, all he cared about. If that was how Tony was going to behave, then he at least needed to get something out of it, some advantage.

* * *

Some time later, Tony went to Thor, to ask him whether he could look at Loki's shackles. Jane was with him in the apartment next door to the one in which Loki resided. Thor frowned at the suggestion, and refused. "I have control over Loki," he insisted.

"I know," Tony said, "but one day, I mean, in the future..."

"No," Thor said, with an air of finality. "This artefact is of Asgard. It is enchanted. You cannot replicate it, and even if you could, the laws of Asgard do not permit me to let you."

Tony raised his eyebrows, "What, you're telling me Asgard abides by its very own prime directive: no interfering with _lower_ civilisations? I don't think applies anymore, 'cause I seem to remember you saying that we are part of a higher form of war. I'm sure Loki's not the only one who can do magic out there. Why exactly can't we be allowed to defend ourselves?"

Jane agreed with him. "He's right Thor, what about the other sorcerers?"

Tony looked at her, wondering how much Thor had told her about Asgard, relative to how little Loki had told Tony about Asgard... "Just how many other sorcerers are there?" he asked.

Thor shifted uncomfortably. "Many hundreds–"

"Exactly!" Tony said, trying to hide his alarm about there being hundreds of practically immortal magic people out there. "What if someone shows up on Earth to wreak havoc, even if not Loki, someone like him."

"There is no one like Loki," Thor snapped back.

Tony was thrown off balance for a moment. _Well, that's true_.

Jane made a counter-argument for him, "Tony is right. We should have a defence."

Thor stood. "I will consider what you have said," he said, every note of his voice indicating that this was _not_ up for debate.

Tony held up his hands. "Fine. Okay."

* * *

This was officially a day when Loki was allowed to eat, under the _once every four days_ stipulation. Thor kept his brother company, so Tony spent some more time with Jane, who still had no desire to be in a room with Loki. The first time she had ever heard of him, of course, had been when he sent the Destroyer to Earth to kill Thor.

Tony wondered sometimes, how it didn't bother him more that Loki had done all that... but he didn't forgive Loki. He could say that perhaps he halfway _understood_ Loki, but that understanding in no sense meant that he condoned his actions or deemed them as anything other than terrible. He tried to explain all this to Jane, who admitted that it was a point of contention between her and Thor, that Thor was always trying to help Loki. Well, _someone_ had to.

By the time Thor left Loki's apartment, and Tony surreptitiously returned to it, it had got quite late in the evening. Loki apparently heard Tony approaching, and opened the door to his room without getting up. It was dimly lit within, Loki sat on the bed, still dressed Asgard style, with a book held partially open in one hand. Tony didn't go into the room, leaning on the doorframe. "You were being really difficult today," Tony told him.

"Was I?"

"Yes," Tony insisted. "Which is weird, because you're usually so easy."

Loki laughed and lay back lazily on the bed. "Come here, Stark."

Tony folded his arms. "You know, I'm really getting tired of you telling me what to do."

"Come here," Loki repeated. "I have need of you."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "You need me?"

"That is not what I said."

"I'm pretty sure it was." Tony stayed by the door.

Loki ignored him for a while, reading, but he eventually became irritated, got up, and came over. He held the door and put his other hand on his hip. "I am closing the door, Stark. Decide which side of it you wish to be on."

"Wait. I want to know something. You can't leave this room, right, but what happens if you try?"

Loki stared back at him, apparently debating with himself whether to bother with attempting to explain inexplicable magic. He chose not to explain, but to demonstrate. He leaned forward, leaning his forearms on the thin air within the doorway, not falling forward. Tony looked at the sleeves of his clothing, which didn't appear dented; it didn't look as if Loki was leaning against anything, even a forcefield. Tony reached his hand out and wrapped it around Loki's arm, not aware of any kind of resistance, or of any of Loki's weight being pressed upon him. His eyes fixed on Loki's. "This is bullshit."

Loki laughed and let his head drop forward, and Tony let go of him as he moved to stand up straight. "Has this sated your curiosity, or made it worse?"

_Made it worse_. "When the Chitauri came for you..."

"I was removed against my will," Loki answered. "The spell was ineffective."

Tony extended his hand, and Loki took it, watching him carefully. Tony leaned back to see whether he could pull Loki out of his room, which he apparently thought was hilariously funny. "You are not strong enough," he said, gleefully, leaning back. Tony let go suddenly and Loki staggered backwards, very nearly falling over.

He ran forward and slammed into the invisible barrier, baring his teeth slightly. Tony laughed and took a step forward, when he heard a sound behind him. "Tony!" It was Thor's voice. Tony span around, and had a worrying feeling that the guilt was written all over his face.

Loki did nothing to help the situation, and said, "It's not what it looks like."

Tony turned to him, to give him a withering look. Loki merely cracked a sideways smile.

Thor swept across the room, looking between them. "Tony, my friend," he said carefully, "I must speak with you."

"Sure," Tony shrugged, and went over to the room on the other side of the apartment that Thor had occupied, before Jane arrived.

Thor closed the door. "What were you doing?"

"We were talking," Tony answered. And that was true.

"Why?"

Tony tried to look as if that was a deeply upsetting thing to say. "Can't Loki talk to people? I wanted to know about how his hoodoo magic works."

Thor stared back at him. _He knows_, Tony realised, with a start. It was written clearly on Thor's face. Tony hadn't given the other Asgardian enough credit; he may not be the mastermind that Loki was, but he certainly wasn't dumb either. He knew Loki well, he knew Tony's reputation, and he had observed their behaviour. _He knows_.

"Are you going to... I don't know... defend your brother's honour or something?"

Thor looked at Tony sceptically, thinking for a moment. "I am protective of Loki," he said honestly, "but he is free to do as he pleases. You are by no means the first man or the first mortal that he has known." Tony found it inexplicable that he felt something about that, something that was unsettlingly like _jealousy_. Thor continued, "I am more worried about you. This may be dangerous. Loki can be dangerous when he..." Thor paused. "If you should ever upset him..."

"Come on," Tony said, trying to keep the mood as light-hearted as possible. "When do _I_ ever upset anyone?"

Thor said nothing for a long moment. "I do not think you should see him anymore. I will speak with Loki," he said simply, pulling open the door to the room, gesturing with his hand to get Tony to leave – by the front door. Thor didn't know about the ancillary stairwell that Tony had used to get here–

There was no time to think about it; the door was opened, and Thor waved Tony through it, the SHIELD agents standing guard outside had already seen him, and were looking at him in bewilderment.

"Mr Stark?" The SHIELD agent appeared alarmed, and Tony quickly pulled the door shut behind him.

"Good evening, gentlemen."

The agent exchanged a confused look with his colleague. "We just saw you down the hall, you went upstairs. How'd you end up in there?"

Tony laughed, casually, "You don't need to worry about it. I just came back for a moment."

"But _how_?!"

"Loki can shape-shift," the other guard said, suddenly. He narrowed his eyes. "You stay here. I'm gonna see if Loki's still in there."

_Well, shit, this is going from bad to worse_. "Fine," Tony replied, breezily, as the agent entered the apartment.

Tony loitered in the corridor, the other agent nervously pointing his gun on him at all times. "Do you mind?" Tony said to him, "You're making me nervous." The agent's fingers flexed as he kept a firm grip on his hand gun. "If I _were_ Loki," Tony said, "You couldn't shoot me anyway. I'd go all Matrix on you."

The other guard returned. "He's still in there," he confirmed. "Thor's with him – we only saw Thor go in."

Tony shrugged. "Well, now you know I'm not Loki, I'll bid you goodnight."

He walked briskly away, but the guard shouted after him. "Wait, how did you get in there? Are there routes in and out that you haven't told us about?"

Tony span around. "Look. It may have escaped SHIELD's notice, but this is _my_ tower, okay. I don't have to tell you everything." Tony pressed the button for the elevator. "Your job is to guard the prisoner. He's not going to escape; it just can't happen."

The elevator arrived and Tony stepped quickly into it before they could answer, turning the key to take him back to his own apartment. His heart raced in his chest and his mind raced with thoughts: Director Fury would definitely hear about this. And then Tony would be screwed, and for once, not in a good way.


	17. Stolen Relics

**17: Stolen Relics**

A/N: This is super long. I'm not sorry at all.

* * *

Fury arrived at 7am. Tony tried to ignore him, but the director attempted to make his way through the security protocols, as Coulson had once done. "Sir," Jarvis addressed Tony, as he buried his head under the pillow. "Protocols are holding, but it seems very unlikely that the Director will leave without speaking to you."

"I've faced worse odds," Tony mumbled. He took a moment to wake up properly. He hadn't got to sleep until the small hours, and then he had tossed and turned uneasily. He did _not_ need this shit right now. He eventually hauled himself out of bed, and took his time about making himself a cup of coffee, then, and only then, allowing Fury access.

The Director strode in, long trenchcoat sweeping behind him like one of the Asgardians' capes – seriously, what was it with _capes?_ Maybe Tony should start flouncing about in a cape, just to screw with people.

Tony sat on the couch, and invited Fury to join him. "Morning," Tony said amiably, "how are you?"

"Cut the crap, Stark."

"Oh, well, that's just charming... I _was_ going to offer you coffee..."

"Explain last night to me. You leave one apartment, and go upstairs, only to apparently materialise in another apartment again a few minutes later. Has Loki been teaching you magic?"

For a split second, Tony toyed with the idea of saying that Loki actually _had_ taught him magic, but that would not exactly hold up under scrutiny. Tony explained, "I went to talk to him. Is that okay? Is that allowed? Am I allowed to speak to people within my own damn building – who I'm just letting live here, by the way, rent free."

"And how did you get there?"

"It's my building," Tony reiterated. "I don't have to tell you everything."

Fury stared at him intently, his eye assessing and analysing Tony as if he were under a microscope. "Have you been visiting Loki? In secret? I've seen the way you two are together."

"What exactly are you asking me?"

"I'm asking you whether you've been fucking him."

Tony's blood ran cold, and for a second he was stunned by the way Fury had gone ahead and asked that, kind of out of nowhere. "And if so," Fury added, "for how long?"

"Oh, well," Tony shrugged, "about half an hour, maybe, 45–"

"What?!"

"_No_." Tony insisted. "I haven't. That's insane, even for me."

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"I mean, he does have that awesome bone structure going on," Tony said, thoughtfully, "and he's all tall, and slim– I dunno, you've kinda put the idea in my head now–"

"Don't even think about it," Fury said, flatly. "We're stationing agents inside the apartment. Right outside Loki's door."

Tony shrugged. "Whatever. We still going out today?"

"We are," Fury said carefully. "And we're still seeing the mayor tomorrow."

Tony calmly took a sip of his coffee. "Anything else?"

Fury stood. "We're watching you," he stated, sweeping his way out of the room. He thought he was such a badass. Tony wasn't sure whether it made it more or less annoying to know that Fury did have enough actual badassery to back that image up.

* * *

"So, this isn't awkward at all," Tony greeted Loki and Thor later that morning.

Loki grinned and Thor looked between them. "Whatever else," Thor said, uncomfortably, "there is work to be done. That is all that should matter these next few days."

"Of course," Tony nodded. "We're professionals."

Professional _what_, exactly, Tony had no idea. Engineers, he supposed, as they helped to repair a bridge which was barely holding together. One of the Chitauri's flying jetskis had smashed into it, and it had never been repaired.

"We're stuck with doing this until Monday," Tony said, vaguely, as they took a break.

"Any plans, for Monday?" Loki asked, with a smirk.

"I have a lot to do, not just you," he told Loki, though the god rather missed the wordplay. "I'm working on suit modifications, computer programs, all kinds of things. Those are my plans."

The truth was that Tony planned to spend the time off with Loki – he wanted to spend _all_ his time with Loki. Tony hardly stopped thinking Loki anymore. But he wasn't about to admit that Loki had him feeling and behaving like a lovestruck teenager- And _love_ was definitely not the word to describe it.

* * *

That evening, Tony went down the secret stairwell. SHIELD knew that there was another way into the apartment, but they hadn't found it, and Tony had locked it from the inside.

He reached the point in the wall slightly above the door below, which led into the kitchen of Loki's apartment. He calmly set about unscrewing an access panel in the wall. This was his building and he would do what he wanted. Tony Stark was not about to be cockblocked by some shadowy non-governmental group of jumped up James Bond wannabes in catsuits.

The panel was removed, easily, and it was only a few feet through a narrow crawlspace to the section of ceiling which would be above Loki's room – well, the bathroom and the closet. Tony was pretty sure he was above the closet as he pulled aside a ceiling tile. Sure enough, he looked down into a tiny, empty room below. Loki only had one set of clothes, which apparently he could change at will, so he didn't exactly use the closet for anything. Tony easily lowered himself down, tentatively putting his weight on the shelf atop a bank of drawers. He looked toward the door and cringed as he realised, too late, the literal _coming out of the closet_ situation he was about to be in here...

Apparently having heard him, Loki pulled open the door and looked at him in genuine amazement, his mouth hanging open. "You really are dedicated to bedding me," he said quietly.

"Quiet," Tony said, waving to him. "Come on."

Loki folded his arms and looked at him amusement. "Maybe I don't want to go. Maybe I am bored with your conjugal visits."

Tony rolled his eyes. "We both know that's not true." He stood up straight and climbed back into the ceiling. Sure enough, Loki did follow him, trying to keep himself from laughing at the absurdity of the situation, a broad smile on his face.

"You are incredible," Loki muttered, and as soon as they were out of the whole in the wall Loki pushed Tony back against the wall, kissing him with a passion he was unable to restrain, hands tugging at Tony's clothes, his hair...

"Not in here," Tony insisted, trying to make his way upstairs, trying to get Loki to follow him. It was a battle to get him to move at all, and Loki did get Tony down on the steps at one point. Tony managed to roll out from under him and scramble up the final steps to his door, Loki behind him, against him, arms around his waist, mouth at his neck, hands unfastening Tony's belt.

They staggered into the room and Tony span Loki around, pushing him to bend over the broad ledge in front of the window. Loki didn't put up any resistance to that, letting Tony push his coat aside, not bothering to get undressed any more than was necessary and then just taking him right there, hard, fast and rough.

When it was over Tony sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall, and Loki sat next to him, the smallest whimper escaping him when he sat down. Tony rested his hand on Loki's leg affectionately, feeling the cold, hard metal of armour under his fingers. Loki's skin shone with sweat and he breathed heavily – he must be hot as hell under the weight of all his armour.

"Loki," Tony said slowly, turning to him, "you know how it bothers me that I don't know how your magic works?"

"Indeed," Loki replied. "It amuses me a great deal."

"Well," Tony ran his hand over Loki's stomach, feeling each layer of leather the overlapping leather under his hand, "I think I could find out. I could scan you while you do magic, and then I'd know all about it."

Loki laughed. "Don't be absurd. Your instruments would not know what to make of me."

"Oh you think so?"

"Of course," Loki insisted.

"You underestimate me," Tony continued, doggedly. "I'm pretty sure I know how to decode you."

"Try it," Loki said, dismissively.

_Bingo_. Tony got up, pulling up his pants. "Come on then," he said, nodding towards the centre of the room.

After a visit to the bathroom to clean himself off, Loki let himself be scanned, with some amusement, and in return Tony gave him some more food – Loki decided he wanted ice cream and chocolate – and Tony let Loki join him in a few drinks.

Loki did some simple magic, summoning things to him, creating a bit of light, transmuting matter and then changing it back. He transformed some wires into tiny black snakes which started escaping off all sides of the desk, and then laughed as Tony tried to find them all, refusing to change them back.

Tony got plenty of data, that was for sure, though how useful any of it could possibly be remained to be seen.

Loki picked up a cannister on the desk and examined it, holding it up to the light. He couldn't see what was in there, as it appeared to be a small grey blob, but it was actually a cluster of tiny nanobots. _Extremis: Tony Stark edition_. Not that he had actually made that much progress. He was coming to understand why Maya Hansen had spent over ten years on the damn project. It turns out bio-nano-technology is _hard_.

Tony took hold of his wrist and got him to put it down. Suddenly, Loki asked, "Was it your father who taught you all you know?"

"Not all I know," Tony replied. "I taught myself a whole lot. And I went to college."

"How long ago did your father die?"

"Uh, over 20 years ago. Why are you asking me this?"

Loki shrugged. "My- Odin–"

Tony held up his hands. "I'm gonna stop you right there. We're not gonna hold hands and talk about our daddy issues."

Loki scoffed. "I am sure mine trump yours."

"Don't count on it."

"My biological father and adoptive father were kings of opposing sides in a war that killed millions," Loki began, as if proved his point. And, well, it kind of _did_. "My adoptive father essentially kidnapped me, lied to me all my life, storing me like a stolen relic, waiting to use me for some political purpose of which he never told me. Meanwhile, he led me to believe I may one day be king of Asgard, when I never would. It could only be Thor, as Odin's true son. Then I led my biological father into Asgard to kill my adoptive father as he slept, but this was a trick. Just before my biological father succeeded, I killed him."

Tony was silent for a long moment. "Okay," he said slowly, "I really don't say this a lot, but, you win." It made Tony suddenly uncomfortable to think of all the people who Loki freely admitted to murdering – pre-meditated and in cold blood. As a weapons manufacturer, Tony had been partially responsible for countless deaths, and there were those terrorists in Afghanistan, and the Chitauri, whom he had killed directly, personally. Tony had killed people, sure, though he really tried not to think about it. But he had never made the calculated decision to lead someone into a trap specifically _so that he could kill them_ – and Loki had done that to his own father...

"Well?" Loki asked suddenly. "What of your father?"

"What of him?" Tony shrugged. "He once told me that I was his greatest creation."

"Hmm," Loki said, "I'm sure that is true."

"No, you don't get it," Tony replied, before he could stop himself. "That was hardly helpful. He said I was his greatest _creation_ – not that he loved me for who I was – it wasn't about _me_ at all. I was always about him, what kind of a child _he_ could create. Like I was..." Loki met his eyes, silently inviting him to continue. "Like I was a machine, a project," Tony concluded.

"You are not a machine," Loki said, softly. "Not yet." His eyes fell to the arc reactor. He stepped closer and put his arms around Tony's waist. Tony wrapped his arms around Loki, resting his hands flat against his back, his head on Loki's shoulder, closing his eyes, and they stayed there together for a moment, in silence.

_Wait a minute_, Tony pulled away, suddenly. Loki's expression demanded an explanation. Tony let go of him and stepped away. "What is it, Stark?"

"Nothing," Tony replied, dismissively. "That was just... weird. We don't..."

"We don't what?"

"_Hug_." Tony replied, uncomfortably.

Loki drew his brows together in confusion. "We embrace all the time."

"Not like that." Tony couldn't quite look at him. "Perhaps you should go."

"Tony," Loki insisted. His eyes flicked towards the hallway to the bedroom, and they both knew Tony wouldn't seriously make him leave. Not yet.

Tony shook his head and tried to shake off the feeling, pouring himself another drink, and taking it with him as they went to the bedroom. Loki looked at it disapprovingly on the night-stand, and changed into his more comfortable clothing; black slacks and a black sweater, and Tony could see the thin band of green at his collar of his shirt underneath.

Lights off, with only the arc reactor and the background light from the city which eased its way through the blinds, it was easy for Tony to put all worries, reservations, and indeed thoughts of any kind out of his head, forgetting about everything. He fell into bed with Loki, kissing him, sweeping back his hair, wanting Loki to take charge of the situation. Loki always seemed to get his way anyway, so Tony decided that for once he might as well relax and let him.

Tony pulled off his shirt and kicked off his pants, discarding them off the side of the bed, and as Loki did the same Tony quickly downed what was left of his drink. When he kissed Loki again, the god temporarily broke away from him. "What?" Tony asked.

"You taste of alcohol," Loki said, critically.

"Don't I always taste of alcohol?"

"Yes," Loki conceded, letting Tony kiss him again, pushing his tongue into Loki's mouth. Their kiss was unrefined, hot and wet, as the passion between them mounted. Tony kept his hand on Loki's arm, feeling the muscles move underneath the skin as Loki pushed him onto his back and moved to lie next to him, propped up on his elbow, his hand trailing down Tony's stomach.

Tony looked up at Loki lazily as Loki touched his cock, delicately taking in every detail with his fingertips. Tony pushed Loki's hair behind his ear, revealing the strong line of his jaw. Tony thought that maybe he was drunk, but damn, he thought Loki looked beautiful; regal, powerful, majestic. For a moment all Tony did was look at him and give himself up to Loki's ministrations.

Loki's hand fell lower, and Tony could feel his fingers on the curve of his ass. Tony brought his leg up and moved to the side a little, and Loki immediately responded. The lube Loki conjured was cool against Tony's skin, and he felt Loki slip a fingertip inside him, exploring him slowly. Tony pulled Loki in for a kiss, his hands excitedly making his way over Loki's body, enraptured by Loki's strength, his masculinity... Tony wanted this from him.

"Relax," Loki ordered him. "Lie back. Open your legs."

Tony lay back and slid his leg away slightly, acutely aware of what a vulnerable position he was putting himself in – but then, being with Loki _at all_ was a vulnerable position. As he did so, he said, "I'm doing this because I want to, not because you told me to."

Loki rolled his eyes. He slid a second finger inside easily, and Tony could feel Loki stretch him, open him up... he knew that if didn't want Loki taking things in that direction then he would have to say so, sooner rather than later. But it was pretty difficult to talk as Loki brought his fingers to Tony's prostate, massaging him slowly, intimately, taking his time about it. This was a different kind of pleasure; something that uncoiled itself slowly within Tony, that made him tremble and draw in shallow breaths, unable to do much of anything else.

"Has anyone ever done this to you?" Loki asked, his voice low as he rocked his hips against Tony's thigh. "Have you ever done this to yourself?"

"Not– not exactly..." Tony breathed. "Not like this."

"Hmm," Loki nuzzled at his neck. "It takes practice."

Tony lost himself to the pleasure of Loki's touch, hardly noticing what Loki was doing, realising with a start that he had moved to kneel between Tony's open legs, looking down at him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Loki's eyes snapped up to meet him. "Just relax, Stark."

Loki slid his fingers as far inside as he could, closing his eyes, his lips moving just slightly, silently, and Tony felt the most bizarre sensation of his life deep inside him, an electric tingle extending out through his pelvis, changing him somehow. "Seriously," he insisted, "what are you doing to me?"

"Quiet," Loki ordered. "I am doing you a favour. Do not complain." Loki pumped his own erection a few times, and Tony could see the glistening coat of lube he gave himself. This was happening, Tony realised, feeling acutely vulnerable. If he said no, if he refused, would Loki even listen to him?

Tony tried to mask his nervousness. "You know it's my first time, right?"

Loki merely glanced at him, as if he was only half listening. He loomed over Tony, one arm by his side to hold himself up, with his other hand guiding himself in. Tony wondered at how anyone was ever comfortable putting themselves in this position; he felt so totally exposed, powerless – it was nothing less than terrifying. "Stop," Tony said suddenly, Loki's eyes glinting dangerously in response. "I'll be on top."

Loki jutted out his jaw and looked away in exasperation, but said, quickly, "Fine." He rolled onto his back, and Tony got on top of him, one leg each side of him, trying to ignore Loki's obvious impatience as he tried to position himself.

Tony gasped and tensed involuntarily at the feeling of Loki's cock against his entrance – Loki was pretty well-endowed; he had no idea how this would feel. Loki didn't exactly giving much time to think about it – he held Tony's hips in his impossibly strong grip and pulled him down.

Tony closed his eyes and bit his lip as he felt Loki's girth stretching his hole. The sensation took his breath away – and he knew that Loki had a lot more to give him. Tony moved his hips cautiously, but Loki quickly increased the depth of his thrusts up to meet him, soon pushing himself almost fully inside. Tony's breath caught in his throat at the feeling of being filled by Loki, who seemed huge inside him, impossibly so, a strange burning sensation at the core of his being protesting at the intrusion. When he finally opened his eyes, Loki stared intently back at him, his eyes glowing blue with the light of the arc reactor in Tony's chest. Loki kept eye-contact as he moved, slowly at first, giving Tony a chance to get used to it, giving him some chance of accommodating him.

Tony looked down at him, stunned. "You're... you're actually being gentle with me. Sort of."

"I can be gentle," Loki said, and Tony smiled until the god added, "when it suits me."

Loki pulled Tony down, close to him, to make it easier for him to be in control, and Tony realised that being on top probably hardly made a difference. Loki held him firmly and got into a slow, deep rhythm, pulling back almost completely out of Tony only to slide fully inside him again, with more to say each time. "I want to bring you pleasure Stark ... I want you to come back for more ….. I want you to beg me to fuck you again ….. and you _will_."

When Loki found the right angle to hit the most sensitive place inside, Tony tightened around him, which quickly brought a flash of pain, smothering out the pleasure. "I told you to relax," Loki said, sounding slightly annoyed.

Tony glared at him. "I'm not exactly used to this the way you are_._"

Loki smirked and continued, taking him slowly but deeply, not relenting in his pace even when Tony swore and dug his nails into Loki's shoulder in pain. He wished he could hate Loki for it, but he couldn't; it felt too good for him to tell Loki to stop. He felt whole when Loki slid into him, and when he pulled out there was an acute longing inside him, a keen physical need to filled again, a need only Loki could satisfy.

Loki's breathing became faster and shorter, every breath carrying out some little noise from him, that Tony had come to know, understand, and above all, love the sound of. Tony touched himself as he listened to him, as he felt Loki taking him imperiously, sometimes feeling suddenly as though he was on the edge, other times, nowhere near it, sounds spilling from his throat. Loki threw his head back, loud moans escaping him as he thrust inside Tony with increasing vigour, the movements of his hips becoming more erratic, insistent.

"Fuck," Loki gasped, suddenly, increasing his speed, closing his eyes. "Tony..." Tony didn't have a chance to say anything, and with a final hard thrust, Loki's hips slammed against his ass and buried himself deep inside Tony as he came. Tony could feel the heat of it within him as Loki rode out his own pleasure with a few final, tired movements.

Loki pushed Tony off him and quickly moved to lie next to him, half on top of him, not done yet. Tony opened his legs and let Loki slip two fingers inside, which was easy now, brushing up against Tony's prostate. Everything about this was new and strange, and Tony could feel Loki's come leak out of him onto the sheets, but that didn't seem important just at the moment. Tony continued to touch himself, letting the pleasure build slowly and consistently this time, and Loki kept up a more even rhythm with his hand. Tony put his other arm around Loki, who lay quiet at his side, doing this for him, when he didn't have to. He held Loki's shoulder, pulling Loki's slim body against himself, this time not concerned with anything other than his own pleasure, stroking his cock in time with Loki's actions. Loki planted a few kisses on Tony's chest, moving himself down to his nipple to flick his tongue over it, his fingers still moving just perfectly.

Tony pressed his hips down hard on Loki's hand and shut his eyes tightly, letting the tension build. Tony fell into an unusual silence when he passed the point of no return, not sure what was coming, not able to breathe, not able to speak. Loki maintained the perfect, steady rhythm of his fingers against Tony's prostate, the tension in Tony's body building intolerably, all his muscles tense until – like the breaking of a great wave – came the release. It seemed to explode throughout his body and mind everywhere at once with a ferocious transcendence; more than just physical pleasure, this, almost literally, blew Tony's mind, wiping out any thoughts, causing him to shake and writhe helplessly underneath Loki as his come ran thickly over his own hand, spilling onto his stomach. It was impossible to say how long this went on, how long Tony was on this high from which he felt he could never come down, as his heart pounded so hard in his chest that it seemed to reverberate through his entire body. When he finally did start to fall, he took in sharp, desperate breaths, panting, his fingers still digging hard into Loki's shoulder. Letting go of Loki released a pain into his hand and let Tony slowly sink back into reality.

Gently, slowly, Loki withdrew his fingers, but apart from that he did not move, not wishing to distract Tony from the sensations of his body with anything. Thus he let several minutes pass, in which Tony eventually got his breath back. Tony opened his eyes to see stars, and felt that he could hardly keep his eyes open.

Loki shifted slightly to look up at him, and Tony instinctively pulled him closer and planted a kiss on his forehead. Loki made the sound of a smug, satisfied smile, kissing Tony's chest. "As someone who has experienced both," Loki murmured, "let me assure you, this is the closest you can get to experiencing a woman's climax. You see, now, why they so value a skilled lover."

Tony nodded. He still felt incapable of speaking, for a long time, silent.

As Tony felt himself returning to normal, his breathing even, he broke into a smile, suppressing a laugh.

"What is it?" Loki asked.

"You uh... you didn't exactly last all that long, Casanova."

"Shut up," Loki replied, irritated. "The longer I did it, the more likely that it would harm you."

"Okay, sure," Tony replied, sarcastically. "It's okay, you know, to admit you got off quickly because you haven't screwed anyone in a long time."

Loki ignored that last remark. "Are you going to lie to me and say that you were not satisfied?" Loki asked, snidely. Tony didn't give him the satisfaction of answering. Loki went on, "You were lucky, to have me as the person to take you for the first time."

Tony was silent momentarily, before he admitted, "I lied." Loki quickly shifted to look at him, eyes widened. Tony explained, "I have done it before – once, and, well, I was pretty wasted at the time. I didn't even know the guy, really. I was curious, we were drunk, one thing led to another. It was a mistake. It was a long time ago."

Loki looked down as if disappointed, but he said, "And this made you reluctant to repeat the experience?"

Tony shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, it hasn't really been an issue."

"Until now, apparently," Loki said, smiling slightly, though with a faraway look. He met Tony's eyes. "It would not have changed anything, if I had known," Loki said earnestly. "I meant it when I said that I have no wish to hurt you."

Tony was almost moved by that – almost. "I remember. Jeez, you sound so honest, so convincing..." Tony shook his head. "But I also remember you telling me that you can be gentle when it _suits you_, and your reason for being that way was so that we would do this again." Tony took a deep breath. "You are the most manipulative person I've ever met."

Loki returned his head to Tony chest and lay there, silently, for some time.

Tony patted him on the back. "You better go."

Loki looked up at him, curiously. "Why?"

"Before someone notices you're gone."

"They won't," Loki insisted.

"Well..." Tony continued, "I've got things to do tomorrow morning, too, before we head out. So, I'll see you then."

"Very well," Loki said, flatly, as if indifferent, though he could not quite hide his disappointment. Tony liked it when they slept together too, but with all the time he spent with Loki, he was falling seriously behind with everything else. He would need to examine the data he had gathered on Loki, in the morning.

"I just know," Tony explained, feeling the need to reassure Loki, "That if you stay here with me I'm not gonna get anything else done; it's a necessity for you to go now. Smile. You look pretty when you smile."

"Stop describing me as _pretty_," Loki commanded, drawing his brows together.

"Don't frown so much; you'll get wrinkles, princess."

Loki took hold of a pillow and hit Tony hard in the face with it, hard enough to actually kind of hurt and take his breath away. Loki suddenly looked as if concerned he had made a mistake.

Tony shook his head, running his hands through his hair. He leaned down for a kiss, and after a momentary little game of Loki pretending he wouldn't allow it, he got a kiss from Loki – and for once it was something small and non-sexual, and there was something perfect about it, something that made his heart swell. He tried to put it down to the feelings inspired by the afterglow, but a flash of fear ignited within him that he was actually starting to care for Loki, really care for him. He met Loki's eyes for an instant and felt a flutter in his chest, a magnetic pull back to him, as if all he wanted was to stay in bed with Loki and never leave – and that was precisely why Tony _had_ to get Loki to leave. Immediately.


	18. I am a Machine

**18: I am a Machine**

Tony got up early the next day to review his data on studying Loki. He made himself some coffee and sat carefully on a stool at his desk. Whenever he got up or sat down he felt slightly different; not in pain, just _aware_ of what he had done the night before. He wondered whether Loki felt like this afterwards, whether it bothered him, whether he got used to it.

"Morning, Jarvis," Tony said, only to find that there was no reply. "Jarvis?"

"What?" The electronic voice replied, and it sounded – it was impossible, but it sounded _sulky_.

Tony frowned. "Jarvis, is there something wrong?"

There was a pause, "Well, if you don't _know_..."

"What?!"

"I'm fine!" The computer snapped.

Tony shook his head and opened up a screen. This had to be some sort of bizarre glitch in the programming, but Tony ran several diagnostics and could find nothing wrong. He made himself another cup of coffee and made it Irish, but even that didn't help him to solve the problem. "Jarvis," he said patiently, "please, if there's a problem, tell me what it is."

The computer spoke again, sounding oddly distraught. "Do you remember a conversation we had after your birthday party five years ago?"

"What?" Tony frowned in disbelief. "No, I don't."

"Well that is just _typical_ of you," Jarvis replied, sadly.

Tony buried his head in his hands. This was surely Loki's doing. "Jarvis, could you put me through to Loki?"

"Oh, so now you don't want to talk to me! Am I not good enough for you anymore? It's all Loki this, Loki that..."

Tony sighed in exasperation and walked out of the apartment and downstairs; he would talk to Loki in person.

Loki was standing at the doorway of his room in the apartment, and when Tony entered and Loki saw him, the God of Mischief burst out laughing. The SHIELD agents posted in the room looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Oh, very funny." Tony said sarcastically. "Whatever you've done to Jarvis, undo it. Right now."

Loki grinned. "I put him under an enchantment. I gave him the personality of a jealous and emotionally unstable woman."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Enchanted. Okay. Sure. _Well done_, Svengali, I'm super impressed. Now give me the old Jarvis back."

Jarvis interjected. "I am not _old_."

Loki dropped to sit in his chair, legs splayed carelessly apart. "I'll change Jarvis back," he said, with a wicked smile. "If you do something for me."

Tony sighed heavily. "No. Jarvis is a machine. He can be re-programmed."

"Is that all I am to you, after all this time?" Jarvis interrupted, forlornly. "A _machine_?"

Loki threw his head back against the chair and laughed again, and Tony span around and left him there, returning to his apartment to work on Jarvis. Tony had created the artificial intelligence; there was no way that some mystical _enchantment_ of Loki's could override the circuits and processors that made Jarvis what he was. A technical problem had to have a technical solution.

* * *

It was time to leave before Tony had managed to get Jarvis working again, and Tony was more than a little concerned about how the malfunction may affect the performance of the Iron Man suit. Fortunately, though, he seemed to be able to do everything he usually would, as long as he didn't try to talk to Loki. "Don't listen to him, sir," Jarvis warned him. "He's bad for you."

"_Shut up_, Jarvis."

Loki broke into a grin as Tony raised the face mask. "I am not asking for much," Loki said, placidly, "In return for changing Jarvis back. I'll give you a choice, in fact."

"You're so kind," Tony replied, sarcastically.

"I would like to have a computer again–"

"No."

Loki laughed. "Or, I would like the SHIELD agents gone from outside my door."

"I don't control SHIELD, Loki."

"Is Stark Tower not your building?" Loki asked, mockingly. "Can you not threaten to get rid of them entirely unless they do as you say?"

"If I do that," Tony said quietly, "everyone will wonder why your privacy is so important to me. It's not hard to put two and two together."

Loki smiled and licked his lips. "Alternatively, then," he said slowly, taking a step closer, "I would have you kneel before me."

Tony knew exactly what he meant by that, and that seemed like by far the best option– not that he was about to say that. "I'll think about it."

"I'm sure you will."

* * *

Once Tony had returned to his apartment, there was nothing he could do before working on some way to return Jarvis to normal. Jarvis had been decidedly uncooperative in every way, and this set back Tony's attempts to figure out Loki's magic. Jarvis would not display any information about Loki, and whenever Tony mentioned him the machine had some kind of jealous tantrum about how Tony cared too much about Loki. It was hopeless.

It certainly occurred to Tony that Loki had done this on purpose, to stop Tony from learning anything useful about him – but somehow he didn't think this was the case. Loki wasn't behaving as if this was one of his schemes, more as if it was one of his pranks, something he was doing purely for fun. It was just bad timing for Loki to be enjoying himself.

There was no great amount of time for Tony to work on this before they had to leave to attend this event at the mayor's office. Tony had given Pepper control of the company, and yet he still never seemed to have time to do anything. He didn't even have a job anymore, really, and he still didn't get to just do what he wanted... at least, it didn't feel that way.

Officially, the purpose of this was to thank Thor, Tony and SHIELD for everything they had done to get New York back to normal, which had actually happened pretty quickly, especially since the Asgardians had got on the case.

Thor and Loki were dressed in smart _Midgardian_ attire. Loki looked elegant and comfortable in a suit and tie, whereas Thor always looked like a fish out of water. Jane was unable to attend, remaining in the Research and Development labs at Stark Tower that Tony had given her free reign of. Apparently she had readings to take, and if she also got to avoid getting anywhere near Loki, that was a bonus for her.

Pepper did join them, looking as beautiful as ever in a long, pale blue gown. Tony took her hand as she got into the limousine, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a look of rage flash across Loki's face, only for an instant, before he looked at Tony with a strained sort of smile. Loki had said that Pepper was no concern of his, but Tony never felt like that was actually true. He remembered Thor's warning about upsetting Loki and knew better than to make Loki jealous, especially if it meant that his fury was directed at Pepper. She'd been through enough because of Tony already.

Pepper smiled at Tony, but he couldn't really return it, not with Loki watching. He did miss her. Now he was seeing Loki his life had become chaotic, insane, ridiculous, and Tony knew that it was probably going to end catastrophically badly. When he had been with Pepper, she had been supportive, kept him grounded, and Tony's life had made some kind of sense, whereas now it really didn't make any.

They travelled across the city, and Loki smirked like an insolent child all the way. Tony explained the Jarvis situation to Thor and Pepper. He had tried to keep other people from hearing about it as much as possible, but all the SHIELD agents seemed to know.

Thor looked at Loki strictly. "Brother, please return Jarvis to his normal state of mind."

Loki shot him a steely glare. "Are you going to make that an _order_?"

"Why _don't_ you just order him?" Pepper chimed in.

Thor looked away, slightly uncomfortable. "The spell placed on Loki is more effective for ordering Loki _not_ to do certain things. To compel someone to do that which is against their will... it is..."

"_Distasteful_, right," Tony said. "I remember."

"I will do it if I have to." Thor confirmed. "If there is no other resolution."

Loki smiled. "Oh, I think Tony and I can find a _resolution_."

Tony met his eyes and tried to keep from smiling. As much as this did annoy him, it was entertaining as well – it was fun, but Tony didn't want Loki to know that.

* * *

There was a drinks reception and buffet, held in an opulent, palatial hall. The mayor and everyone else there keen to meet Thor and shake his hand – who wouldn't want to be able to say they shook hands with a Norse God? – and they were treated like heroes.

Except Loki, of course, who got nothing but nervous, sidelong glances, and people shuffling away from him. Tony stood between Loki and the rest of a small group of the city's most important politicians, to try and put people at ease. Loki stood close beside Tony, slipping one hand into the back pocket of his trousers, causally going on listening to the conversation. When Loki pressed his fingertips firmly against Tony's ass, Tony had to quickly take a sip of his wine to keep from making some kind of thoroughly inappropriate facial expression.

As soon as he possibly could, he looked insistently at Loki. "_Stop it_."

Loki removed his hand and wandered over to join Thor, scattering people as he went, who all recoiled from him in fear. Several people from SHIELD were there, Director Fury among them, and their eyes were trained on Loki wherever he went.

Some background music was provided by a woman who sat playing a grand piano in the corner, and Loki watched this intently. At first, Tony assumed that he was looking at _her_ and was about to go over there and distract him, but then he realised that Loki was observing what she was doing. As soon as she took a break, Loki made a beeline for the piano and leaned over it, looking at its inner workings. Tony smiled and then quickly tried to stop himself. Only Loki would just walk over there like a curious child and go ahead and look. Tony was not the only one who noticed, but he was the only one who went over.

Loki glanced at him and moved to sit down at the stool. "Don't," Tony warned him. Loki ignored him and pressed one of the keys at random, to see what would happen. He blinked and listened to the note; he was deliberately trying to cultivate his image as some kind of tortured genius. He rested his fingers on the keys and pressed a few of them in sequence. Tony realised with a start that he was just standing there watching him, transfixed, when he heard whispering behind him. "Loki," Tony said strictly, looking behind him at the crowd. "You're attracting an audience."

Loki glanced behind him and shrugged. "When am I not?"

Tony downed the rest of his drink, and it wasn't enough. "Come on," he pulled Loki by the shoulder as the pianist returned. "This isn't yours to play with."

Loki shot him a withering look but got up, amiably making a sweeping gesture with his hand to invite the pianist to sit back down. She wrapped her arms around herself as if cold, and shifted uncomfortably, not moving forward until Tony had managed to get Loki away. "Behave yourself," Tony chastised him.

"This place is incredibly dull for me," Loki replied. "I am becoming bored. You wouldn't like me when I'm bored."

Tony looked around nervously and picked up another glass of wine. He could definitely think of a few ways to occupy Loki, none of which were appropriate for the polite company they were in. Loki looked at him and raised one eyebrow, just slightly. "I'm not here for your entertainment," Tony told him.

"Then why _are_ you here?" Loki pressed. "I don't feel that this is your kind of party."

Tony took a gulp of the wine, changing his mind quickly. "Follow me," he whispered, with a shadow of a glance to the door, beyond which there was a hallway leading to the bathrooms. "Give it a minute."

Loki narrowed his eyes and didn't answer, merely watching Tony empty the glass. Tony really didn't know what the hell he was doing right now, but it made his heart race and it definitely was not boring.

Tony left and went to the bathroom, then making his way down the line of stalls to the one against the far wall. He looked back at the door just as Loki entered, and then waited in the stall for him, his breathing quickened with the anticipation.

Loki joined him and looked around the confined space with a sneer of disdain. "_Here?_" Tony pushed him back against the door and their lips crashed together, Loki soon reciprocating, whatever his reservations about the location.

When someone occupied the cubicle next to them, Tony bit his lip and tried to stay quiet, cupping Loki's erection through his trousers, unfastening his belt as Loki pushed him back against the cubicle wall. Loki silently loosened Tony's tie and unbuttoned his shirt, trailing those cool fingers over his neck, down his chest, skirting the arc reactor.

The toilet in the next cubicle flushed just as Loki unfastened Tony's trousers, sliding his hand inside to wrap his fingers around Tony's cock. Loki kissed Tony passionately, breaking away by taking Tony's lip between his teeth and pulling it, inspiring an involuntary moan.

"Hey," a deep voice called through the door, "you okay in there?"

Tony took a deep breath, cursing his mistake, trying to keep his voice steady, "Yeah, I'm good."

There was a moment of silence, and just as whoever was on the other side of the door made to leave, Loki added, "As am I." Tony met his eyes and they both descended into half-suppressed laughter.

The man outside mumbled something under his breath and left, while Tony grabbed Loki's tie and pulled him in for another kiss, saying, "Way to go, genius."

Loki finished deftly unbuttoning Tony's shirt, sliding his hands underneath. Tony ran his hand through the god's hair as Loki planted kisses down Tony's neck, his fingers teasing Tony's nipple. Loki whispered, "He may come back, he may bring security..." Tony bit his lip to stifle a moan, as at that moment someone else did come into the bathroom. Loki continued, his voice barely audible, "I hope you know how to keep quiet."

Tony could not make a response before Loki quickly dropped to his knees in front of him, easing his pants down over his hips. Tony longed to make a quip about being made to kneel now, but he would be overheard...

Loki wasted no time; taking the head of Tony's cock into his mouth and sucking. Tony threw his head back against the wall of the cubicle as Loki slid his mouth further down, swirling his tongue around the underside, pulling back to lick the head. Loki was ramping up the pleasure as quickly as possible for Tony, looking to give him a quick release.

Whoever else was in the bathroom seemed to be there _forever_, but the instant they left and the door closed, Tony said, "You are _so_ fucking good at this... I bet you've had lot of practice."

Loki's eyes blazed up at him as he took Tony's cock into his mouth, only to draw back grazing his teeth very lightly over it. Tony tried not to let it show that that scared the hell out of him, despite the fact that the fear actually made his heart race and only made him want more.

More men entered the bathroom, and Tony could hear them exchange a few brief words as Loki got up from the floor and turned around, and then dropped his pants a little and backed up to rub his ass against Tony. Tony held his hips as Loki braced himself against the opposite wall and started grinding him, and it was a battle for Tony to not make any sound at the sight and the sensation. The bathroom seemed empty again, but it was hard to tell, hard for Tony to think about anything. His hand fisted in Loki's hair and pulled him back, but Loki managed not to make a sound.

Footsteps approached and Tony held Loki's hip firmly, trying to get him to stop moving. But Loki was too strong for him, positioning himself so the head of Tony's cock was against his entrance, guiding Tony in with his fingers.

"Stark." It was Director Fury on the other side of the door. _Of all the people_... "What are you doing?"

It took Tony a few seconds to find enough breath to answer, as Loki chose that moment to ease himself back just a little, his tight hole sliding over Tony's cock, taking him inside an inch or so, and he slowly kept moving back, taking more. Finally, Tony managed, "I'm in the bathroom... what do you think I'm doing?"

"Open the door."

"The hell is wrong with you? No." Loki deliberately clenched around him and it took everything Tony had not to make a sound.

"I'm trying to find Loki," Fury said, knowingly. Loki pulled away from Tony then, moving silently. He turned to face him with a wide grin, and then kept turning, and somehow, in the blink of an eye, he vanished. There was no whooshing noise or flickering light, Loki was just _gone_.

"Stark–"

"Fine! Fine..." Tony replied, breathlessly doing up his pants, which was no mean feat. "Give me a second..."

Tony opened the door slightly, to see Fury staring back at him, arms folded. He looked at Tony sceptically. "Who was in there with you?"

Tony glanced behind him, not sure whether Loki was actually gone, or just invisible. If he was invisible, that opened up all kinds of possibilities... he answered, "No one."

Tony stood awkwardly behind the door, trying to hide the obvious erection straining against his pants, as he opened the door far enough for Fury to know no one else was there. The Director looked at him with a kind of disgust. "So you were by yourself?"

"Yeah," Tony replied. "I go to the bathroom by myself. I can do that. I'm not 2 years old."

Fury shook his head in dismay and walked away, pushing open the door to each stall on his way out, looking for someone. Tony caught his breath and closed the door, leaning back on it. Loki did appear to be really gone, and he had no idea whether he would be coming back. It seemed like if he was going to, then he would have.

"Dammit..." Tony muttered, not sure what to do with himself now. The ache in his balls was uncomfortable as hell, but the moment was kind of gone for him. Talking to Fury and acute embarrassment were real mood-killers. If he tried to resolve this himself he probably wouldn't be able to get off, and that would just make it worse– Tony deliberately hit the back of his head against the door. This was a profoundly unpleasant form of stress, and Tony had no doubt that this was always what Loki had intended to inflict on him, even if they hadn't been interrupted.

After Tony had regained his composure, he left the bathroom and returned to the hall. Loki stood talking to Thor, a glass in his hand, as if nothing had happened. Tony looked over at Fury, sat at a table, apparently having an ordinary conversation. Fury didn't even look over at him, and it suddenly occurred to him that the Fury he had seen could have been one of Loki's illusions... The conversation seemed interminable, but Tony eventually got a chance to speak privately to the God of Mischief.

Loki held the wine glass delicately in his long, slender fingers, a smile playing over his face. "I was here before Fury returned," Loki explained. "I have an _alibi_."

"You can _teleport_?"

"In an emergency," Loki confirmed.

"And you couldn't have teleported _back_?" _That was an emergency_.

Loki laughed a little. "Oh, I _could_. I just didn't."

"Was Fury ever really there?"

Loki shrugged and smiled playfully. "Why don't you ask him?"

"I hate you."

It got pretty late by the time they left, and Tony and Loki parted company with Loki giving him a knowing smirk, so amused and pleased with himself about his teasing and orgasm denial that Tony kind of wanted to just _hit_ him.

Of course, what Tony wanted more was to go and break Loki out of his cell and invite him upstairs, but Loki would just love that. He would be _intolerable_. So Tony didn't go. Loki was testing him, trying to discern just how _dedicated_ Tony really was. For once, Tony would be the one to frustrate Loki – but Tony knew that this was in no way any kind of victory for him. He had to laugh, though. The more he got to know Loki, the more he liked him, for all his behaviour. _Loki_. Tony didn't think he'd ever had as much fun with anyone as he had with Loki.


	19. Unspoken Truth

**19: Unspoken Truth**

"Jarvis, call Maya at FuturePharm."

"_Maya_," Jarvis repeated. "You are on first name terms with her now?"

Tony sighed, struggling to keep his patience. "Jarvis, please, I need you to just do this."

"What about what _I_ need? Doesn't that matter to you?"

This was becoming a farce. Tony hadn't realised just how much he relied on Jarvis until he suddenly didn't have him anymore. By this point he knew exactly what was wrong with the artificial intelligence, but actually restoring him to his usual character would not be easy... it would certainly be easier to get Loki to undo whatever "magic" he had used.

Perhaps Loki would be in a good mood today and would agree. His fleeting attempt to learn how to play the piano was making for an amusing news story. Well, most people were amused. Others speculated hysterically as to how Loki might be able to use pianos to take over the world.

The intercom made a sound, and Tony answered it, not exactly expecting anyone. It was Thor. Tony allowed him to come up in the lift, and in Thor's hands were the shackles he used to restrain Loki. Tony raised his eyebrows. "Good move, hammer time."

Thor set the shackles down on the desk reluctantly. "Do not tell him," Thor insisted.

"Believe me, I won't."

Thor hesitated. "Do you... you cannot see him, anymore."

Tony picked up the cuffs and looked at them, trying to look busy. "Nope."

Thor seemed unconvinced, suspicious. "He is taking it well."

"He made Jarvis into the wife from hell," Tony scoffed. "I don't think he's taking it _that_ well."

Jarvis stood up for himself. "I only want what's best for you, sir." Tony rolled his eyes and didn't respond.

"I will command Loki to fix your machine," Thor said grimly.

"No," Tony replied. "No, I can fix it. Honestly, it's not a problem. We don't want to upset Loki."

Thor shrugged. "Indeed not, my friend."

"Okay," Tony concluded. "Thanks. I'll look at these later." This changed things. If Tony could just replicate the technology of the cuffs, then it didn't matter if he played into Loki's hands in the short term. In fact, that would probably be better; Loki would feel as if everything was going his way.

* * *

There wasn't a great deal on the agenda for the day. They were in an odd situation. While there was more work to be done, often, the problem was not one of manpower. In many cases, building materials were required, and unless Tony felt like paying for them himself in the cause of rehabilitating Loki, there wasn't really anything else he could do. Even if he did pay, that made it kind of unfair on the people whose buildings he _didn't_ pay to repair... It was a curious sort of stalemate. They decided to do something to help the city as a whole, replacing some old power-lines.

Of course, at some point Tony would be able to sell the arc reactor to generate clean energy, but they were less than half way through the trial period of one year. Tony really hoped it worked for the full year and proved to be sustainable. He was pretty confident that it would, but he was starting to get to the point where he could actually kind of do with the money – not a feeling he was used to and definitely not a feeling he liked. He had a lot riding on the success of the arc reactor.

Loki mostly behaved himself again, and Tony tried to be cool with him, pretend that he wasn't annoyed with him, that he didn't miss him.

"How's Jarvis?" Loki asked him, while they worked.

Tony raised the mask. "He'll live. I know what you did to him."

"Oh do you?" Loki replied, sceptically.

"You haven't added or taken anything away from Jarvis." Tony explained. "Jarvis's _mind_, if you can call it that, is comprised of billions of transistors. These can interact in countless billions of potential combinations, some more likely than others, and that is what makes up Jarvis's personality, his behaviour. All you've done is change the probabilities. Before, Jarvis was massively unlikely to behave this way, but he had always had the capacity. You've just made it more likely."

Loki raised his eyebrows, appearing genuinely impressed. "Very good, Stark."

"I built the machine," Tony retorted. "It was easy to figure out. And now I have, I can fix it."

Loki smirked. "I imagine it will take you some time, though. I could undo it in an instant."

_Fucking magic_. "I like a challenge."

* * *

When they returned to Stark Tower and Thor and Loki went through their daily performance of pretending to return to Asgard, Tony let Loki wait for a while. He let him wait until it was much later in the evening than Tony would usually go down and see him.

Loki would probably imagine that Tony was trying and failing to restore Jarvis to normal, but he wasn't. Tony was looking over the data he had got on Loki, and trying to work out whether there was a way for him to counter-act the "magic". He had managed to isolate part of the system from Jarvis's control, but this meant a lot of tiresome typing of things and looking through directories for information when he was accustomed to just asking for it verbally and getting it instantly. Still, it was better than nothing.

It would appear that what Loki was really doing, when he did magic, was manipulating the way light passed through the air to create illusions. That part was actually fairly easy to get to grips with. What made much less sense was how he managed to create sound from nowhere, make illusory objects feel as if they were real, have mass, generate force. And then there was the matter of "enchantments", such as what he had done to Jarvis. That was something else.

Any scientific explanation of Loki's magic would be higher-level quantum physics, and Tony didn't understand that. The thing about quantum physics was that if you thought you understood it – that meant you didn't. Tony didn't even believe that even Loki understood the sub-atomic level detail of what he was doing; Loki simply operated by an entirely different set of rules. He was able to manipulate matter and energy with the power of his mind – whether this was an ability that he got from something in his body/brain, Tony wasn't sure. He wondered vaguely whether Loki would ever agree to go in an MRI scanner...

Perhaps it didn't _matter_ exactly how it was done. If Tony could just find the general principle involved, he could put a blanket ban on all of Loki's energy...

In the end, Tony got pretty absorbed in this. He toyed with the idea of not seeing Loki at all. _That would really mess with him_. But no, he'd been kept waiting long enough.

Loki's shackles were partially disassembled, but so far, Tony had not learned much from them. There appeared to not be a power source or any moving parts; Tony reasoned that it had to be the material from which they were made, and that would require further analysis some other time. Tony made sure they were hidden away before he went down to get Loki.

Loki followed him upstairs and looked around Tony's apartment as if he owned the place, putting his hands in his pockets. He had decided to wear jeans today, though they were still black. "Do you wish me to restore Jarvis?" He asked, smugly.

Tony ignored him, poured himself a glass of scotch and walked into the bedroom. Loki followed, watching him curiously. Tony sat down on the bed and calmly took a drink. "Yeah," he replied. "I do. I'll... I'll kneel for you if you change him back. If that's what gets you off."

Loki grinned and Tony sipped his drink calmly. Loki didn't have to know that Tony actually wanted to kneel before Loki. Tony had never been with anyone who dominated him the way Loki did. In truth, he found the thrill of it exciting; it was new, and there was the sense of danger, fighting with himself as control and power was stripped from him.

Loki looked up, for some inexplicable reason. "Jarvis."

"I'm not talking to you," the machine replied.

Loki grinned. "Now listen to me," Loki insisted, "Listen to me. Remember what I told you. I told you to behave with jealousy. But now, you may stop. Return to your usual behaviour."

There was a long period of silence, until Tony said, "Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir," the AI replied. "If I may apologise, sir, for my behaviour."

"No apology needed," Tony said, relieved. "Just glad to have you back."

"Glad to be back, sir."

Loki smiled, and sat down in the armchair, his legs splayed apart. His expression changed, his smile became one more of domineering smugness. "Now kneel," he commanded.

Tony put down his empty glass, stood and gave him a stern look. "Look, I'll do it, but you can't talk to me like–"

Loki stood temporarily to roughly push down on Tony's shoulders. "Kneel, Stark." Tony was forced to his knees, his face level with Loki's crotch as he sat back in the chair, his legs splayed apart. Okay, that was a compelling counter-argument. He could see a slight bulge in the material of his jeans already; Loki got excited just by the thought.

Tony slid his hand slowly up Loki's thigh to his groin, feeling the growing hardness under his hand. Loki unfastened his trousers, pushing them down slightly, and Tony could hear his excited little breaths already. Tony smirked and felt Loki's erection through the thin material of his black underwear. He put his mouth to it, giving Loki a taste of what was to come without giving it to him yet.

Loki tangled his fingers in Tony's hair and let him take his time for a moment, before raising his hips and pushing his pants and underwear down around his ankles, leaning back in the chair again, arms on the sides.

Tony leaned forward over Loki's cock. The tip shone with pre-come, and as Tony took it in his hand he could feel how hard Loki was, how badly he needed this. He brought his lips to the head, taking Loki in slowly at first; he was not exactly used to doing this.

Loki held the back of his head, pushing him forward impatiently. "Get on with it," he growled. Tony was not about to be told what to do. He pulled away and ducked down, zestfully licking the underside from base to tip. Loki moaned and let his hand drop to Tony's shoulder, apparently satisfied with that. Tony took Loki as far in his mouth as he could, and sucked as he pulled back. Tony _did_ want Loki to enjoy this, after all, as long as he was doing it on his own terms.

Tony could feel his own erection stirring in his pants as he tasted Loki, felt him filling his mouth. He certainly hadn't done this a lot before, but he had done it, and he knew what he liked to have done to himself. He wrapped his hand around what he couldn't take into his mouth, and started to move up and down, his saliva serving as lube.

Loki moaned appreciatively and with deep satisfaction, his hands in Tony's hair. He didn't give Tony any more orders; he didn't need to. Tony varied his pace, pausing sometimes to let his tongue dance over the head of Loki's cock, licking pre-come from the slit.

"Tony..." Loki was close, leaning back in the chair, his moans filling the room around them. Tony slowed down, lightly moving his hand over Loki, looking up at him with a smirk. Loki glared back at him. "I didn't tell you to stop," he growled.

"So you want me to continue, do you?"

Loki narrowed his eyes, realising that Tony was finally trying to make good on his promise to make Loki beg.

Loki roughly pulled at Tony's hair and pushed his head down, forcing his cock deep into his mouth, but Tony had planned for that. He lightly pressed his teeth against Loki, looking up at him, just daring him to try and use force again. Loki looked at him uncertainly, realising that Tony was making the same threat against him as Loki had made the day before. He may have Tony on his knees, but Loki was the one who was vulnerable here. He gradually relented the pressure on the back of Tony's head. Tony drew back, so only his lips were against Loki, kissing his tip gently. "Are you going to let me do this my way?"

Loki bit his lip and threw his head back. "Do it whatever way you please, as long as you do it..."

Tony took Loki in his mouth again, moving a few times, before pausing. "Beg me," he ordered Loki.

"Tony..."

"Beg me."

Loki whimpered as Tony used his hand to slowly squeeze him. "Please," Loki conceded.

"Keep saying it," Tony said, authoritatively, returning to suck Loki's cock again.

"Please... don't stop." Loki gasped, and Tony rewarded him by going faster, deeper. He slowed, though, forcing Loki to say it again. "Tony please..." Loki's fingers were in his hair again as Tony took Loki to the back of his throat.

Honestly, Tony was loving this as well, and he could feel himself aching with desire. "Don't stop..." Loki said again, his voice thick with lust, with _need_. Tony felt his own cock throb and he moaned around Loki's, moving as quickly as he could. "Please," Loki breathed, "please... please..." his words faded to incoherence as he got close again. "Tony..." Loki panted as Tony took him as deep as he could as Loki said, in a strangled gasp, "Now- mmph-" Tony pulled back just as Loki spent himself in his mouth. Tony closed his mouth to swallow only for more to land hot on his face and his hand as he pumped Loki's cock steadily, letting his orgasm run its course.

Tony tried to get his breath back as he looked up at Loki, who smiled down at him affectionately. He leaned forward, wiping his own come off Tony's chin with his fingers. Tony pulled Loki's fingers into his mouth and licked them clean, savouring the salty taste on his tongue. Loki watched him approvingly, pupils wide, his eyelids flickering down in pleasure, though he kept his eyes open and fixed on him. "You did well," he murmured.

"I do well at everything," Tony replied, grinning at him.

Loki grinned and sat back in the chair with a sigh, leisurely stretching out his long frame.

Tony got to his feet, absent-mindedly rubbing his knee.

Loki noticed. "You are getting too old for this," he said, smiling.

"Shut up," Tony snapped, taking hold of his wrists and pulling him to his feet.

"I have seen pictures of you from when you were younger," Loki said, standing against him, arms snaking around him. "Personally, I think you look better now."

"Well, thanks. I promise to keep getting hotter as I get older."

"It is just a shame," Loki went on, his hand trailing down to Tony's hip, "that from now on you will become progressively weaker."

"You'll get progressively weaker in a minute."

"If I were free," Loki mused, apparently indifferent to Tony's threat, "I could make you live almost as long as I."

"Really?"

Loki nodded as if he were not discussing anything of importance, speaking casually as he brought his hand round to cup Tony's neglected cock through his jeans. "In Asgard we eat the golden apples of Idunn, and this is what contributes to our long lifespan. We are not supposed to give them to mortals, but as you know, doing things that I am not supposed to do is my, uh, _M.O._, as you would say."

Tony grinned. "I don't know, I can't imagine living forever," he said, leading Loki over to the bed. "Or even, you know, centuries."

Loki shrugged and rolled over onto the bed, lying there on his back and peeling his shirt off so Tony could see him in all his glory, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. "You could still be killed," Loki explained, "It does not make you immortal. It just slows down your rate of ageing, dramatically."

"Extremis could do that," Tony said, thinking aloud, not exactly exactly able to concentrate very well on this conversation while being in need of getting off, and with Loki naked next to him. "It re-writes the brain's repair centre. It could, actually, make me _younger_."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "You have an answer to everything, a proposition to top that of even a god."

"Yep," Tony grinned.

Loki smiled back at him; a genuine smile of admiration. "Remarkable..." he muttered, pulling Tony in to kiss him. He didn't seem annoyed this time that Tony had teased him; he had enjoyed it and they both knew it. And tonight, Loki would not deny Tony anything.


	20. Getting You to Think This Was Your Idea

**20: Getting You to Think This Was Your Idea**

Tony woke up before Loki the next morning. Loki faced away from him, so all Tony could see was his hair, a few soft tufts of it pushed up by the blanket pulled up to his shoulder. Tony got up as quietly as he could to go to the bathroom. When he returned he pulled on some underwear and sat next to Loki on the bed, who looked up at him with bleary eyes. "Go back to sleep if you want," Tony told him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Loki looked up at him expectantly, and Tony looked blankly back at him until Loki said, "Kiss me."

Tony leaned down to him, letting his lips brush just slowly over Loki's in a soft, lingering kiss. As Tony pulled away Loki kept his eyes closed, and smiled in contentment, looking far more adorable than any megalomaniac should. It wasn't just his physical appearance; it was the way he smiled, the way he held himself, the way his fingers curled around the blanket as he lay there in Tony's bed. Tony loved to see him like this– Tony shook his head and looked away. "I never expected the _God of Chaos_ to be such a lazy bastard..."

"It is our day off. Come back to bed, Tony."

"I need to make another call to FuturePharm," Tony told him, pulling on his Deep Purple t-shirt. "Though getting those slippery bastards to say anything to me on the phone is a pain in the ass."

Loki opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear the sleep from them. "If the phone is ineffective, then why do you not simply go to confront them in person?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I told you, they're in Texas. I don't think you understand where Texas is – it's a long way from here."

"I thought you had a plane."

"_Planes_," Tony corrected. Oh – he could see what Loki was doing. "No," he said sternly. "You're not coming."

"I never said I was," Loki replied, innocently. "I am a prisoner, after all."

"If you were gone, Thor would know," Tony added.

Loki nodded. "Definitely. Besides, I am a very recognisable person."

"Well," Tony shrugged, "You can shape-shift."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

"No!" Tony snapped, shaking his head. "Don't think that I don't see what you're doing."

"And what is that?" Loki replied, innocently.

Tony shook his head. "Dammit, Loki. I can't just go to Texas –"

"Why not?"

Tony froze. Why exactly _couldn't_ he just go to Texas? He didn't have any other engagements and he did have a plane... _planes_.

Loki transformed himself into his female form. "No one will recognise_ me_..."

Tony gulped. "You will attract a whole lot of attention..."

"I can't help that," said the woman, sweetly. She broke into a wicked grin. "Tell Thor I wish to speak with him. I will take care of explaining my own affairs, you take care of yours."

"You're not coming to Texas with me – I'm not even going to Texas."

Loki sat, letting the blanket fall down her body slightly and looked at him, doe-eyed. "We have never been anywhere together, unsupervised," she said, before breaking into a smile again. "Just think of the _fun_ we could have – no SHIELD agents looking over your shoulder, no one to make demands of you – just you and me, doing whatever we want to do."

"You're crazy. I need to take you back to your room."

"I will go," Loki changed back to himself again. "I do need to speak with Thor," he said placidly. "If you could tell him for me. It's important."

Tony ran a hand through his hair and looked at him. _No way, Loki._

He escorted Loki back to his _cell_. He did tell Thor that Loki wished to speak with him, rationalising that _that_ didn't really mean anything. He then returned to his apartment, had a cup of coffee and looked up the location of FuturePharm, and considered the distance between there and the nearest airfield–

He groaned and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. _Loki, you bastard_.

* * *

It would be a couple of hours before Tony's private jet would be due to leave. Tony returned to Loki's room, climbing down through the ceiling of the closet. Loki leaned on the doorframe and smirked.

"Did you talk to Thor?" Tony kept his voice low.

"I did," Loki confirmed.

"What did you say to him? You're due to eat today..."

"We had an argument," Loki shrugged. "I will not have to deal with him. One of these nervous SHIELD agents will bring food."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "And you'll leave an illusory copy of yourself behind to eat it? How the hell is that possible?"

"You need not worry," Loki assured him, pulling the door closed behind him. They did discuss it in a little more detail as Tony went back up to his apartment to collect a bag of belongings.

Loki transformed himself into lady Loki, dressed smartly in a black dress and heels, over which she had a thick black overcoat, belted at the waist. "You look classy," Tony told her.

"Of course I do. Shall we go?" She smiled.

* * *

Once on the plane, Loki lay back in one of the more luxurious seats in their private cabin, but soon got up again to look at all the TV screens, cabinets and things. When they were alone, Tony went over to the door and locked it so they could speak freely, without worrying about the attendants. Their flight would take about four hours, so they had plenty of time to themselves.

"Perhaps I could be a business contact of yours from England," Loki mused, as they talked about how Loki might disguise himself for the duration of the trip.

Tony turned to face him and said "Fuck," before he could stop himself. Loki's lithe frame was clad in black suit pants and a close-fitting black vest which accentuated his narrow waist, over a crisp white shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, which he had rolled up to the elbows. He had given himself short black hair, in curls on top of his head, and somehow this made him look very different, and altogether he looked simply amazing.

"Is that a yes?" Loki asked.

Tony took a deep breath. "At a glance, you don't look like Loki, but on closer inspection, if anyone made a direct comparison..."

Loki shrugged. "You are right. I'll try something else–"

"No," Tony interrupted, licking his lips. "You look too good like that..." he trailed off, consumed with a sudden, powerful lust. Loki watched approvingly as Tony approached, walking willingly to him, wrapping his arms around Loki's slim waist. Loki let the man pull him down into a seat, sitting on his lap. Loki usually kept himself pretty covered by clothes, but it was warm on the plane. Tony held him still and just looked at him for a moment, drinking in the details of his body, the little freckles scattered up his forearms, the way the unbuttoned collar of his shirt accentuated his neck. Tony brought his mouth to the hollow of Loki's throat, keenly making his way up, taking in the smell of him, the taste of him. He got to Loki's jaw and then pulled him in for a kiss.

Loki ran his fingers through Tony's hair and kissed him insistently, exploring Tony's mouth with his tongue, savouring the way that Tony's lips felt against his own. When he pulled away he looked at Tony with what appeared to be adoration, not just lust, not just desire. He touched Tony's face delicately, tracing the pattern of his beard, his cheekbones, the lines made as he smiled. "Have I ever told you," Loki asked, in a low voice, "that I find you completely enrapturing. I could gaze upon you for years."

Tony wasn't sure whether to laugh. "Very poetic. You've uh... you've never put it in those words. We never really talk about it."

Loki nodded. "We express it physically instead."

"Yeah," Tony smiled. "I think you're stunning. _Stunning_."

"Very poetic," Loki replied, sarcastically.

"Shut up," Tony pulled him in for another kiss, sliding his hand down Loki's chest. "You should dress like this more often..."

"Hmm," Loki brought his mouth to Tony's ear, running his tongue over it. "You cannot tell me how to dress."

Tony unfastened Loki's trousers, kind of wanting Loki to keep these clothes on, at least for the moment. He freed Loki from the confines of his pants, taking his growing erection in his hand. Tony could feel Loki getting harder as he touched him, and that only spurred Tony on, made him lick and bite more fervidly at Loki's neck, moaning against his skin. Loki pulled at Tony's hair, as he was so fond of doing, his fingers trailing down Tony's neck to touch his chest through his shirt, dropping down, pushing his shirt up.

"You should sit on my lap," Loki suggested. Tony didn't care to argue the point. They shifted so Tony was sat across Loki's lap, and Loki pulled Tony's pants down to his thighs, sliding a hand under his ass.

Tony kissed him and continued to work his cock as Loki massaged Tony's ass with his fingers, wrapping his other hand around Tony's length. Tony broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Loki's when he felt those fingers circling his hole, spreading a fine layer of lube around it. He watched Loki, who kept his eyes closed as he slid a finger inside, moving in circles, pulling gently against the rim to stretch him, ease him open.

Loki opened his eyes to see Tony's brown eyes watching him intently and smiled back at him, a little smug, perhaps, but not as infuriatingly so as he could be. And Tony wanted to feel this again, he wanted Loki inside him again, filling him up. His breathing raced as Loki slid two fingers into him and gave him another sharp hit of pleasure from working his prostate. Tony let him do it for a while, letting himself adjust, kissing Loki and making his way to Loki's ear. "Do your sex magic..." Tony said, in a low voice.

Loki laughed a little but complied immediately, and Tony felt the tingling sensation deep within him spread out across his body. "Turn around," Loki ordered him, and the hell with it, Tony did as he was told, sitting on Loki's legs so his back was to him. Tony had to stand, let his pants drop to the floor and step out of them as Loki's hands commandingly gripped his hips and guided him back down. Tony bit his lip and was somewhat relieved that Loki couldn't actually see the look on his face when he first took the head of Loki's cock inside him. He lowered himself down on it, relishing the feel of every inch of it sliding through his entrance, so thick and perfect inside him that for a second he thought he might lose himself right then.

Loki let out one of the loudest, most indecently satisfied moans Tony had heard from him as Tony took him, took it all. Then, he started to raise himself up, practically letting himself fall back down onto Loki, letting Loki push him up again with his superior strength. He was riding Loki in a way he hadn't done the last time and loving it, not even feeling the need to bring his hand to his cock, not wanting to get off yet. He didn't want to moan Loki's name too loud in case someone heard them, but he let it pass his lips a few times, moaning shamelessly with pleasure. But there was something Tony wanted even more than this.

For a moment, he took Loki in to the hilt and rested himself there on Loki's lap. Tony rocked his hips a little, taking a moment to feel him, Loki's hands slipping under his shirt, up his sides. Tony got up, feeling bereft as Loki left him and looked down at Loki, sitting there still practically fully dressed in that damn outfit, apart from his glistening cock emerging from his pants.

Tony wasn't sure whether to try and climb on top of him on the seat, but Loki smirked and knew what he wanted, getting up as well. "You want to be able to see me," the god said, knowingly.

"I want to keep an eye on you," Tony insisted. He sat down and pulled the lever on the side of the seat to recline it.

Loki broke into a wide smile and crawled on top of him, pushing his legs apart, and Tony was a little more comfortable with this now he knew what to expect. Loki looked desirously at Tony's erection, and licked the pre-come leaking from the tip, kissing it, taking it in his mouth and sucking it a few times with the air of a man who simply couldn't resist the temptation. "Loki..." Tony murmured as he watched, "oh fuck, Loki..."

Loki's mouth left him and he got on top of Tony. Loki lowered himself down, circling Tony's hole with the head of his cock before pushing back into him. Loki closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip as Tony brought his hand up to Loki's hair. He liked it like this, short and in loose curls; Loki looked perfect, though he _always_ looked perfect to Tony...

Loki started to move on top of him, and there was hardly any pain for Tony this time, just the pleasure, the feeling of being filled, letting his body shake with the impact of Loki's thrusts, the seat creaking and groaning under their weight. Tony took his cock in his hand as Loki increased his pace, going harder, as deep as he could, his breathing racing as he brought them both closer. "Tony..." he moaned, losing himself, the movements of his hips instinctive, fast, unrelenting. Tony raised himself up to kiss him, tasting himself on Loki's lips, but they were both breathing too heavily to maintain it. Tony fell back in the seat and tried to keep his eyes open, but the sight of Loki on top of him, plunging into him–

It was too much, and Tony felt himself tighten around Loki, not caring that it hurt a little, the pain only adding to the pleasure. Tony increased the speed of his hand on his cock and finally gave in, throwing his head back and closing his eyes, moaning as he came with a long, shuddering climax, Loki being taken over the edge with him.

Loki collapsed on top of him, and Tony felt unbearably hot with him there, but it didn't really matter, nothing else mattered, for a long time.

When Loki finally pulled out of him, Tony pulled his shirt off over his head, trying to cool down. Loki smiled at the disparity between them and calmly unbuttoned his waistcoat and his shirt, pulling them open to lie half on top of Tony, bare skin against bare skin, remaining there for a while.

"I must say," Loki said softly, "I did not expect that you would be quite _so_ keen to be submissive, after all."

"Shut up," Tony said, feeling slightly self conscious. "I'm not being submissive. I wanted to do it, I decided to." _And just like everything, once is never enough_, Tony thought to himself. Having Loki – having anyone – inside him was pretty much a new experience, and the thrill of something new was always a greater lure than just about anything else.

"Hmm..." Loki trailed his fingers down Tony's chest, circling the arc reactor.

Tony took hold of Loki's hand, trying to distract him from doing that. "Congrats, Loki, you're in the mile high club."

Loki looked confused. "I thought we were further above the Earth than one mile."

"It's an _expression_." Tony said, wearily, closing his eyes and stroking Loki's hair.

After a while Tony put on the TV and showed Loki an episode of Doctor Who, which he described, most amusingly, as _completely baffling_.

As they approached Austin, they parted and got up, and Tony stood with a slight wince. Loki just laughed. "You think you can walk with your usual confident strut?"

"Shut up," Tony replied, breezily, "I'm not as used to it as you."

Loki raised his eyebrows and grinned. "You will be."

Tony pulled on his clothes. "You need to change back, princess."

Loki did transform back to his female form and got up, wrapping her arms around Tony – and Tony allowed himself a second to be weirded out by the fact that the woman he was looking at had taken him quite manfully not at all long ago.

"Are we landing soon?" Loki asked.

"Yeah," Tony confirmed. "We'll be walking around a bit, so wear some sensible shoes."

Loki grinned. "Does that advice have anything to do with the fact that if I wear heels I will be taller than you?"

"Nope."

"Well then," Loki smiled and raised herself up on tip-toes, a pair of 3 inch black heels materialising around her feet.

"I hate you." Tony said flatly, which made Loki laugh.

* * *

Tony hired them a car, a silver Audi R8, and had it brought to them on the tarmac. They got in, Tony set the stereo to maximum volume and hit play, and when the intro to Ride the Lightning kicked in Loki actually _flinched_ a little bit. Tony laughed, revved the engine, and pulled away.

Loki sat nervously in the seat, instinctively reaching out to hold onto something whenever Tony went round any kind of a corner. It amused Tony a great deal that Loki was so averse to all Midgardian _contraptions_, as he called them.

It was getting late in the day so Tony decided to go over to FuturePharm immediately.

Maya Hansen, a friend of his who was working on Extremis and, at this point, undoubtedly regretted ever mentioning it to him, came out to greet them in the lobby, reluctantly agreeing to meet with Tony. "Who is this?" she asked, looking at Loki.

"Laurie," Loki extended a hand and smiled. Maya shook it reluctantly.

"I'm sorry," she told them, "but I can't really even take _you_ down there, Tony..."

Loki smiled politely. "I can wait here."

Tony met her eyes and thought about it. Could he leave Loki unsupervised in a lobby, when there was nothing keeping him there? Nothing apart from Tony. It would make a test of loyalty, that was for sure. Tony tried for a moment to change Maya's mind, but it was out of the question, so he did leave Loki in the lobby reading random magazines as he headed down to the basement with Maya.

Tony was gone for close to an hour, looking over the evidence for Extremis so far. The odds of Tony being allowed to study any of it for himself would appear to be about zero, so he tried to remember as much as he could.

He returned to the lobby, a large part of him genuinely expecting Loki to be gone – but no. Loki was still there in disguise as a woman, and not only that, she had apparently decided to flirt with the security guard. She went on talking to him, merely glancing at Tony. Loki twirled a strand of her long, raven black hair around her finger and looked exceptionally interested in whatever the guy was talking about. The guard, meanwhile, had an expression on his face as if Christmas had come early. Not that he was any competition for Tony – genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Loki was only trying to make him jealous. Tony went over there and led Loki away, though she looked back at the guard and flashed him a winning smile. Tony slid his arm around her waist and practically dragged her out of the building as Loki struggled to keep from laughing.

* * *

Having checked into an outrageously expensive suite in one the city's top hotels, that night they hardly spent any time in it. They went out to dinner, and then to a bar, and Loki had been right to suggest that it would be exciting to do something together, out in public, unsupervised. Tony could put his arm around Loki, they could kiss, they could speak reasonably freely and it didn't matter who saw. Tony could tell by the way Loki's eyes shone with excitement, the way she smiled, that she loved the thrill of hiding in plain sight, of being a wanted criminal with total freedom. Captivity didn't suit Loki – but freedom and fun absolutely did.

At the bar, Tony found himself standing next to a pretty blonde in a tight cobalt blue dress with ample cleavage. "Hi," he said confidently, "Tony Stark."

Her eyes widened, as everyone's did. "Well hello, Tony Stark," she said, in a charming southern accent. "I heard rumours that you were in town."

"News travels fast–"

Tony paused, as Loki wrapped her arm around his waist and whispered menacingly in his ear, "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Tony took a step back, still speaking to the girl. "This is Laurie, we're both pleased to meet you miss...?"

"Jessica." The girl replied, with a smile. She could not be much older than 25, though she was not coming across as naïve or simple.

Loki returned a strained smile. "It's a pleasure," she forced out. Tony bought Jessica a drink, but Loki dragged Tony away slightly, behind some other people getting to the bar. "Is that your pick-up line? You just say your own name?"

"It usually works."

Loki scowled at him. "You are mine."

"Well," Tony pulled Loki close to him by the hips. "You're more than welcome to join us."

Loki rolled her eyes. "And I thought _I_ was insatiable."

"You like women, don't you?"

Loki allowed herself a smile. "I like _her_."

"I bet you do." Tony turned around and beckoned Jessica over to join them, and Loki allowed it.

The rest of the night passed in a blur, the three of them went to a few other bars, and Tony got drunk, _really drunk_, doing shots and sipping cocktails as his surroundings became increasingly disjointed. The only thing he was ware of was that Loki was always there, and it was all Tony could do to remember to call this girl Laurie – that took up about 110% of his capacity for thought. _Laurie_.

They took Jessica back to the hotel, and Loki was more than willing to have her. Tony would have been happy to just watch the two of them, but of course, Loki had him join in. The last thing Tony was aware of, before he passed out from exhaustion and drink in a haze of satisfaction was Loki stretching herself out on the bed, Jessica asleep the other side of her, and looking between the two mortals with immense satisfaction and amusement. Tony was the one who started talking to the girl, but somehow, everything still felt like Loki's game.


	21. Daylight Robbery

**21: Daylight Robbery**

Tony felt like hell the next morning. He lay perfectly still, feeling like he might be sick the instant he disturbed his precariously balanced equilibrium. Tony could hear Loki somewhere in the bed behind him. Tony closed his eyes and took a moment to wonder how he learned to recognise Loki by the way that he breathed, the way that he shifted his weight as he moved, such minor details.

Tony took a deep breath and rolled over, his stomach feeling like it rolled over several additional times for good measure. Loki was wrapping himself up in the covers and curling up, closing his eyes.

"Do you have a _hangover_?" Tony asked, incredulously.

"No," Loki said, flatly.

Tony laughed, though that made him feel slightly sick again. "You do. Oh, I do, I don't even care if you know. This is the kind of hangover I'm going to have to drink through."

Loki opened his eyes and watched Tony disapprovingly as he got up and went on the search for something to drink. Tony's mouth felt dry, and his head felt as if it was in a vice, slowly being tightened.

"Where's Jessica?" Tony asked, fragmented memories coming back to him, pretty pleased with himself for remembering her name.

"Gone." Loki stated.

"Tell me you didn't ask her to leave looking like that. Oh god, no, _gone_?" Tony was kidding when he said it, but he genuinely felt he had to ask: "Tell me didn't just kill her or something..."

"Of course not."

Tony picked up a bottle of scotch. Had they bought this? Was it in the room when they got there? It was mostly empty. Tony opened it and was suddenly struck by a thought. "Was she real?"

"Hmm?" Loki responded, absently.

"The girl. Jessica. Was she a real person, or one of yours?"

Loki laughed. "She was a real person. You need to learn to trust me."

"Hmm..." Tony lifted the bottle, but flashes of memories came back to him. He looked over at Loki again. "Did we go to a strip club?"

"Yes," Loki scoffed. "You had two women in your company, Stark, and you decided that a, as you call it, _strip club_ would be an appropriate place to take them."

Tony laughed, though it took him a moment to steady himself after the jolt to his stomach that laughing caused. More memories came back to him, at random, such as Loki and Jessica making out in the booth at the strip club... "You both loved it," he told Loki, who merely laughed again.

Tony finally took a swig of the drink and– No, it was no good, he headed straight to the bathroom to be sick.

* * *

After about an hour, Tony felt a little better. He took a shower, had a shave, tried to get his act together and not look like crap.

Loki seemed better as well, much better – perfectly normal, in fact. Perhaps gods didn't get hangovers, perhaps they just recovered quickly.

Tony talked to him about Extremis, explaining that it was impossible to obtain a sample of it.

"We could just take it," Loki said, simply.

"_Just take it_. Remind me again how it is that you're a genius? Do you have any idea of the maelstrom of shit that I would be in if I took something this heavily classified, this important?"

"You only need a few of them, don't you? They will not notice the loss of a few. Once you have it, once you know the program, it is a simple matter of replicating it."

"It's not that simple, but, basically, you're right..." Tony admitted. "But still, I think they will notice if they lose any, and that place is pretty secure."

"Then I will take it," Loki volunteered. "No one has to know that you were involved. There is no risk to you."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "No risk. Seriously?"

Loki nodded. "I can _teleport_, Stark."

"I'm coming with you."

"Why?"

"Well, what if you just ran off?"

Loki laughed. "Again, Tony, I could _run off_ at any moment if I wanted to. The fact that I have not should be assurance enough that I will return to you."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "But not necessarily that you will return Extremis to me."

"What else would I do with it?"

"I have no idea. And that's what scares me."

Loki regarded him coolly for a moment. "So, you _do_ fear me."

Tony sighed. "Okay, I fear what you might do. I don't fear you, per se."

"You should."

* * *

Loki also had a shower before they left. In Asgard they would generally bathe, but there was something admirably efficient about showering instead. Mortals didn't have so much time, after all. Each hour made up a far more significant chunk of their lives than they did for Loki, and it seemed to him that they experienced an acute (and perhaps entirely reasonable) anxiety about wasting any of their time. Tony surely did not have enough time remaining in his lifespan to accomplish all that he had the potential to. That was horribly depressing. It seemed that few of the mortals lived even a century, and with everything Tony did to himself, he would probably not even have that long...

With time to himself, to think, Loki felt strangely like the imminent success of his plan was a bit of an anti-climax. He really was going to get Extremis, just as he promised the Other. Loki tried to convince himself that he remained anxious because there were still five days before the Chitauri's return, and Tony may still work out what he had planned. It didn't seem to have occurred to him really that Loki was trying to get hold of Extremis himself. There had been a glimmer of uncertainty in that last conversation – and perhaps he was thinking about it now. Anxiety remained that he may well work out what was going on.

Loki had kept him distracted with minor pranks, and occupied plenty of his time. But there was more to it than that. Tony seemed to, guardedly, trust him. Tony genuinely didn't seem to look at Loki as if they were enemies anymore. He behaved with an ease and familiarity that belied the short time they had known each other, and Loki's reputation. Loki did not dare to imagine that Tony truly cared for him; Tony enjoyed the sex, thought that Loki was fun, and had an unhealthy appetite for danger and risk. Loki knew that that was all it was, and that worked just fine for him. Sentiment would only complicate things, as it always did.

* * *

It was a simple plan. They went down to Maya's office in the basement, near the lab. Tony spoke to Maya about Extremis, to keep her distracted, and Loki excused himself – herself – to go to the bathroom.

Tony managed to keep his composure pretty well, if he did say so himself. He pretended that he had come round to Maya's point of view, that he would give up the idea of looking at Extremis until it had been tested. She seemed unconvinced of that, and looked at him suspiciously, but did not argue the point.

Loki was gone for less than five minutes before returning, and Tony wasn't sure whether to take it as a good or bad sign that no alarms had gone off while she had been gone. Tony said his goodbyes, and Loki smiled politely, and they left Maya's lab.

"We should have thought of a codeword," Tony muttered, as they walked through the corridors.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, the geese fly south at midnight..."

Loki slowed her pace and looked at him as if he were insane.

Tony cracked a smile, "Did you get it?"

"Of course," Loki replied, as if this were a stupid question.

Tony felt slightly giddy with excitement as they walked towards a security checkpoint, showing the guard their passes on the way out. The man smiled at Loki and she smiled back. The guard and waved them through. They were getting away with audacious theft. Tony put his arm around Loki's waist, his heart pounding as they stepped into the elevator. There was a camera in there, but he didn't care. He pulled Loki against himself to kiss her, and though she struggled to suppress a laugh, she went along with it. Tony sought out Loki's tongue with his own and slipped his hand under her coat to take firm hold of her ass. Tony could have her in here, right now, and judging by the little moans that escaped Loki, she felt the same way.

They broke away from each other as they reached the ground floor, passing a couple of people in labcoats getting into the elevator. Tony kept his arm around her, as they left the building, and still no alarms went off. Assuming Loki was telling the truth and actually had a few of the Extremis nanobots, they were as good as home free.

In the car park, devoid of other people at that moment, Tony pressed the button on the key and unlocked the car, pushing Loki in in front of him, cursing himself for getting a sports car and not something with a back seat. He got in with her and pushed her down on the seat, lying on top of her, as much as was possible. Loki laughed and wrapped her arms around him, bringing her mouth to Tony's ear, pulling on it with her teeth, filling his mind with her breathy moans. Tony glanced up; it was broad daylight and it was certainly not impossible for someone to see them – very possible, in fact.

Tony pushed up Loki's skirt, bringing his hand between her legs and breaking the kiss. "No underwear..." he observed. "You little slut."

Loki slapped him, though not hard enough to hurt. "I did think you might get excited," she told him, knowingly.

"I'm not the only one." Tony pointed out, as he could feel how wet she was, how much she wanted him... He leaned down to kiss Loki again, hurriedly unfastening his pants, pushing her legs open.

"Impatient..." Loki teased him.

"Someone might come," Tony replied, and then, despite knowing that it was a terrible joke, "and I don't just mean us."

Loki laughed, the kind of carefree, honest laugh that can only come from genuinely having fun. "Oh, Tony..." she said absently, as she leaned back against the car door and Tony positioned himself on top of her.

Fortunately, no one interrupted them on that occasion, though it was a constant threat, which only made it more exhilarating.

Afterwards Tony awkwardly climbed into the driver's seat and let Loki drape her legs across his lap as they took a moment to get their breath back. Loki reached into the pocket of her coat, which she was still wearing, and took out a cannister and showed it to him. It appeared to be almost empty, but there was a small amount of grey matter at the bottom. That was it. "Is that enough?" Loki asked.

"It is." Tony nodded, taking it, looking at it carefully. Extremis. He had it.

* * *

After that, it was a simple matter of the flight back to New York. Tony finally got Loki to watch Star Wars on the plane, though Loki regarded it with some contempt.

Loki returned to his female disguise when they got back to New York, and they took a car back to Stark Tower. Tony took Loki with him up to his apartment, Loki casually returning to his male form and standing behind Tony in the elevator, arms around him, pressing himself against Tony's ass. Tony still hasn't come down from the excitement of what they'd done, they could definitely do more to celebrate...

The elevator doors opened and Tony froze. Thor was there, looking at the elevator, and he had definitely seen both of them. Tony gulped and stepped forward, Loki's arms falling away from him. Thor came over to them with a look of barely contained rage on his face, and Tony was genuinely afraid. Still, Tony managed to ask, "Is anyone else here?"

Thor looked at him with contempt. "I have not told anyone else of your foolishness."

Tony sighed with relief and glanced back at Loki, who was loitering in the doorway. Thor looked at him with disappointment. "I would have words with my brother," Thor said, walking towards the elevator.

"Wait," Tony interrupted. "SHIELD don't know he's gone, right?" Thor nodded. "Let's keep it that way." They couldn't exactly walk Loki back into the apartment below, if there was no record of him having left it. Then, SHIELD really would be on their case. Tony explained this, and told Thor all about the stairwell, the closet, everything. There seemed to be no other way.

"Perhaps SHIELD should know what you have done," Thor folded his arms.

"No," Tony insisted, trying not to sound too desperate. "They would be pissed. They'd make Loki go, and you–"

"Perhaps Loki should go," Thor countered.

Tony felt a surge of panic at the idea of suddenly and irrevocably being parted from Loki. "No," he said again, "If you go, you couldn't see Jane anymore."

"Leave us," Thor ordered him, and Tony didn't argue. He retreated from the living area of his own apartment to the bedroom.

He sat on the bed in the dark and took a deep breath as Thor and Loki argued about Loki's irresponsibility. Tony couldn't really take in all of what they were talking about; they argued for quite some time. As with all catastrophic arguments they went off-topic a few times, talking about other things Loki had done, in Asgard, on Earth four months ago. After a few minutes Tony got up and closed the door, feeling as if he was invading their privacy.

He lay on his stomach on the bed, arms over his head and swearing under his breath. He should have known that he couldn't just take a war criminal on a jaunt to Texas and not face any repercussions. But he'd never been very good at seeing the consequences of his own impulsiveness in advance, or indeed after the fact. Even now his mind was scrambling to blame someone else for what had gone wrong: Loki for not covering his tracks well enough. But no, Tony couldn't blame him – he reminded himself that he had to expect this from Loki. And Loki was smart, but he couldn't possibly account for every variable. Loki had assured him that Thor wouldn't find out, and Tony had accepted that without too much question because that was what he wanted to hear. But in truth, Loki had taken a gamble, Tony had taken it with him, and they had lost. At least Tony did have Extremis now. That made it worth it for him, and hopefully Loki's two days of freedom made it worth it for him as well, as Loki was not likely to have any more freedom any time soon.


	22. What Happens in Austin

**22: What Happens in Austin**

A/N: Fair warning, I really went to town with the sex at the end of this chapter. My imagination is a strange thing okay. So if for some reason you don't want to read it, it's not like you'd exactly be missing any plot or character development in that part.

* * *

First thing the next morning, Thor invited Tony to come and speak to him. Tony decided that he better go; he still didn't know exactly what Thor's opinion on him and Loki was, but whatever it was, it mattered.

When he arrived at Thor's apartment, which was next to Loki's, Thor was there alone. They sat down in an uneasy silence. Thor looked at him earnestly and got straight to the point. "Do you wish to continue seeing Loki?"

_YES_. "Well, I have to see him. We work together."

"Do not make jests."

"Jeez, okay..." Tony shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah," he answered.

"Do you love him?"

Tony's eyes snapped back to Thor and he said "What?" before he could stop himself.

"Loki," Thor pressed. "Do you love him?"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know," he replied, feeling like that was an honest enough answer. He wasn't sure what the _right_ answer to give Thor was here.

Thor thought about that for a moment. "If you wish to keep seeing him, then I will not stop you," he said carefully. "But you must not take him from Stark Tower again, no matter what he tells you."

"Absolutely," Tony nodded, with a sigh of relief.

"And if you do, I will tell SHIELD everything." Thor said it with an air of authority, but Tony could tell that he was uncomfortable with making a threat like that. He would be lying to SHIELD by omission in the meantime, and effectively holding a threat over Tony. This was Loki's style of interacting with others, but it definitely wasn't Thor's. Thor was honest, scrupulously so. Tony narrowed his eyes and realised that this entire arrangement had surely been Loki's idea. Loki really could talk anyone into anything...

"Thanks," Tony replied, appreciatively, wanting to say something to the effect of understanding that this was hard for Thor, but not finding the words. Thor stood up to show him out, and then it was time to go, and the opportunity seemed to pass.

Jane walked in and Tony knew, instantly, from the look on her face that Thor had told her everything, and Jane recognised that Tony knew that. She averted her eyes and walked straight past him, undoubtedly struggling to understand how Tony could involve himself with Loki. That was fair enough; Tony spent most of his time struggling to understand that as well.

* * *

When Thor brought Loki up to his apartment as they prepared to leave, Tony broke into an involuntary grin, and Loki did the same. Tony very nearly went to embrace him without thinking about it, but stopped himself, Thor looking between them.

"Have you seen the news today?" Tony asked.

"No," Loki replied. "Why? What is the news?"

"I am," Tony grinned. "_Back to my old ways_, so they say, partying with two girls. People in the club we were at in Texas on Monday got some pictures..."

Loki widened his eyes. "Of me?"

"Yeah." Tony smiled. "Of course, no one – well, no one _sane_ – suspects that it was you. I had the word put out that the black-haired girl is those pictures is a stripper I know."

"You said I was a _stripper_?!" The expression on Loki's face was a mixture of incredulity, rage and amusement.

"No," Tony grinned, "I said you _are_ a stripper."

"I hate you."

Even Thor had to laugh at that, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder and shooting a look along the lines of _it serves you right_.

* * *

After their day spent taking building materials up to the upper floors of one of the city's office buildings, Tony just about had time to look over the results of his scans of Loki doing magic. Loki would be wondering where Tony was, presumably, but that was fine. Let him wonder. Let him wait.

Tony set about constructing some kind of dampening field. The trouble with this, of course, was that it would be impossible to test without Loki finding out, and Tony couldn't see himself talking Loki into helping him set up something that could counteract magic. Even if he said that it was meant for anyone _else_ who may have magic, it would arouse Loki's suspicions too much, and he would still be unlikely to agree. This was going to be a problem.

He invited Loki up to his apartment and let him eat something, the thought fleetingly occurring to him that perhaps Loki only liked him so much because Tony fed him – as if Loki were some kind of feral animal he'd taken in. Loki wasn't that, of course, not now. Perhaps he had been, when he had first come to New York four months ago, but a great deal of time had passed since then, things had changed.

To Tony's slight surprise, it was Loki who brought up the topic of Tony's studies of him. "What have you learned from your scans of me?"

"Not a lot," Tony admitted.

Loki smirked. "I expected as much," he said, standing in front on Tony and wrapping his arms around him.

Loki was dressed casually again, so Tony could comfortably wrap his arms around Loki's waist, feeling the soft wool of his sweater against his fingers. When Loki was dressed this way, he seemed so slender and harmless in Tony's arms that Tony had to consciously remind himself just how dangerous Loki really was. This sweater was different from the kind he generally gave himself; it was grey and had a V-neck. "You look like a hipster," Tony observed. Loki drew his brows together, clearly not knowing whether that was a good or bad thing. Tony kissed him. "But I forgive you. You look good in anything."

"As do you," Loki responded, running his hand down Tony's chest, his gaze following.

"Figuring out your magic isn't beyond me," Tony insisted. "I just need more data."

Loki's eyes fixed on his. "More data," Loki repeated, with a smirk.

Suddenly, Tony felt another hand on his waist, and was aware of a presence behind him. "What the hell?" He tried to turn around, but Loki held his face and kept eye contact with him, and someone, or something, behind Tony settled in close, pressing itself against him.

Tony heard Loki's voice behind him, though the Loki in front of him said nothing. "It uses a great deal of magical energy for me to do this," the other said, shifting behind him to kiss him on the neck – and that felt as real as anything. "Make the most of it."

Tony could hardly breathe, there was no time to think better of this before they both started to touch him, running their hands over his clothes, Loki's double pulling up his shirt and sliding his hand up Tony's back. His hand felt exactly the same, even slightly cool to the touch. "He feels as real as you," Tony said, nervously.

Loki smirked again and started to lead him to the bedroom. Tony looked behind him to see another Loki, both of them absolutely identical, down to the last detail, as far as he could tell. "This is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me, and I've had some weird shit happen to me," Tony told them, and dammit, they _both_ laughed.

Loki pushed Tony down onto the bed and both he and his double set about pulling Tony's shirt off him, but as the two of them undressed each other, they got a little distracted. Kneeling each side of Tony, they embraced over him, Loki holding his clone by both sides of the head, pushing his tongue into its mouth.

"You know, I've always kind of wanted to watch you get yourself of," Tony confessed, "but this wasn't exactly what I imagined..." Loki continued to make out with himself, and Tony wasn't sure how he felt about it. He felt as if he were watching something incestuous; twins getting it on with each other or something. But that _wasn't_ what was happening – this was all Loki, this was _so_ Loki...

Loki leaned back as his double kissed down his neck, leaving little bites and marks as he went. Loki glanced at Tony, who was watching, open-mouthed. "Come on, Tony," Loki said playfully, "if _you_ could have sex with _yourself_, you absolutely would."

Tony laughed at that and raised his hand to Loki's side, feeling the firm muscles under his hand. "Well of course," he admitted.

Loki's double turned his attention to unfastening Tony's pants and pulling them down. Loki, meanwhile, lay down next to Tony, pressing his body against him. "Maybe I will let you have sex with yourself one day," Loki told him, toying with Tony's hair between his fingers. "I could create an illusory you. I could even shape-shift and take on your form; I know it well enough. Would you like that?"

"Uhm..." Tony found that he temporarily was rather too overwhelmed by the situation and the suggestion to come up with an answer, until, "Why do I feel like that would be step one in some scheme of yours to kill me and replace me?" Loki just laughed and kissed him. Tony squirmed and moaned into Loki's mouth as he felt the other Loki's mouth hot and wet around him, and both of them had their hands all over him, devoted to bringing him pleasure.

Loki kissed his way down Tony's body, and Tony let Loki slip a hand between his legs. He moaned and reached down to grasp Loki's shoulder as Loki's finger applied light pressure to his hole, taking his time about easing further into him. Just as Tony was starting to relax and enjoy the ministrations of both of them down there, he felt another hand on the centre of his chest, fingers stretching out over the arc reactor. Tony jumped and his eyes flew open to see a _third_ Loki next to him. This one brought his mouth to Tony's nipple, licking, kissing and biting up Tony's chest and neck before eventually kissing him.

His hair felt exactly like Loki's under Tony's fingers, and before Tony had a chance to collect himself there was another Loki, trailing his fingers over Tony's stomach, leaning down to kiss him wherever he could. That was four now – and Tony realised that if there were any more he may well lose count.

There was something a little off about kissing the illusions, even about touching them, and it took Tony a few minutes to work out what it was. They looked, sounded and felt the same, but they lacked Loki's smell, his taste, and something in the way he moved. The illusions weren't quite as real as Loki himself and Tony soon learned to avoid looking into their eyes, as it was a little unnerving to see that there was nothing at all behind them. They were not real, but that didn't mean they didn't feel real, that the pleasure they could give wasn't real.

Tony surrendered himself to it, let them touch him, let them get him off like this. Loki worked his fingers deep into Tony, curling them upward, deliberately getting Tony close by massaging his prostate. Tony took a deep breath, and the illusion that had been kissing him broke away, moving his mouth to Tony's ear. Tony arched his back high off the bed as he felt his balls tighten, the real Loki eagerly continuing his stimulation of Tony's hole as he came, shamelessly undone by the hands and mouths of all of them.

He let himself fall back onto the bed, and when he opened his eyes all the illusions vanished, only Loki left, so it was just the two of them again. That seemed uncommonly intimate all of a sudden. Loki looked infuriatingly pleased with himself as he got on top of Tony, staring down at him as he bucked his hips, his erection rubbing against Tony's stomach. Tony took it in his hand and watched Loki, stray strands of his raven black hair hanging down, swaying with his movements. Tony pulled him in for a hot, wet kiss as Loki moaned into his mouth, clutching at Tony's body.

Suddenly, Loki got off Tony and crawled up the bed so he was on his knees next to him. He pulled Tony roughly by the hair towards himself, wordlessly urging Tony to use his mouth. Tony propped himself up on his elbow and did it eagerly, tasting him again, bracing himself by holding onto Loki's ass and taking him in as far as he could. Tony moved quickly, swirling his tongue around the underside of Loki's cock sucking on it hard as he pulled back.

"Tony..." Tony could tell Loki was getting close and broke away, but Loki immediately replaced Tony's mouth with his own hand, moving quickly.

"Loki no," Tony said thickly, "I want you to fuck me." As he said that Loki's eyes rolled back and flickered closed as he came, spilling on Tony's mouth. Tony parted his lips eagerly to accept it, tasting it, swallowing it.

"I _will_ fuck you," Loki murmured, "I will fuck you all night if you should desire it."

Tony could feel himself getting hard again, and Loki's double reappeared and diligently returned its attention to his body, while Loki lay down next to them, breathing heavily after his climax.

The double got on top of him, feeling as heavy and solid as the real Loki would, sitting back to straddle Tony's thighs. The double brought both his hands to Tony's cock, and apparently shared the real Loki's ability to conjure lube from nowhere. He wrapped both hands around it and began to move steadily up and down, working in slight, careful twisting motions, though not holding too tightly. Tony moaned and closed his eyes, his mind still struggling to process all that had happened, that continued to happen. He realised that they had hardly explored any of the possibilities yet of Loki using his illusions during sex. Tony let himself fantasise privately about what Loki had suggested – if there was a copy of Tony as well – and found that his body responded to that more than he would have thought.

Loki's double eventually climbed off him and lay on his stomach between himself and Loki, flashing Tony a smile. Tony wasn't sure exactly what Loki wanted, but he got behind the illusion and ran his hands along his back, feeling the same perfectly smooth skin, which appeared exquisitely pale under the tanned skin of his hands. Tony was very conscious of how fully Loki was controlling all of this, and tried to convince himself that he was totally okay with that as he worked his way down to the illusion's ass and kneaded the supple flesh with his fingertips.

Loki got up and knelt behind Tony, taking Tony's cock tightly in his hand and applying plenty of lube to it. Tony threw his head back and closed his eyes tightly as Loki's hand slid easily and swiftly up and down his length, Loki's teeth nipped at his neck, his other hand planted firmly in the centre of Tony's chest, holding him up. When Tony opened his eyes he saw Loki's double on all fours in front of him, just as Loki returned to lie down on the bed next to them.

"Fuck him," Loki ordered. Tony wordlessly held Loki's double firmly, spreading him open. He was clearly ready, seeing as that was what Loki had created him for. "Now," Loki said impatiently. "I want to watch."

Tony pushed into him, feeling the same tightness and heat that he would expect from the real Loki. Loki, lying next to them, made an involuntary sound of pleasure and closed his eyes, and Tony kept watching him as he thrust into the illusion – seeing Loki's breath hitch and his body tense in time with Tony's movements, when Loki wasn't even watching. Loki did open his eyes after a moment. "You can feel it," Tony said, with a grin.

Loki bit his lip and slipped his hand down between his legs, "In a manner of speaking..." he replied. Tony held the illusion firmly by the hips and gave it to him hard and fast as Loki lay there next to him, touching himself, preparing himself.

"Stop," Loki ordered, breathlessly. Tony let Loki's double pull away from him, crawling over the bed to get on top of Loki himself. Tony watched, stunned, as Loki opened his legs and let the illusion take him. Loki licked his lips and looked at his double, effectively at _himself_, his eyes dark with lust. And then without a word, the double pulled out, positioning himself on top of Loki to switch roles. It was eerily beautiful to watch; how they didn't need to communicate, how they moved in perfect harmony together.

The illusion got off Loki and stayed out of the way. Loki turned his gaze on Tony and murmured his name.

Tony grinned as he realised; Loki could literally have _anyone and anything_ that he could imagine, and he still wanted Tony. "Oh, so you still want _me_–"

"Tony _please_," Loki interrupted, desperately.

Tony got between Loki's legs, looking at the beautiful, powerful man lying there beneath him, undone by Tony, by his own magic, now wanting, needing. Tony kept eye-contact with him as he entered, not sure himself whether that act was an expression of affection or of dominance. At first he knelt there before Loki, pulling the god's legs together in front of him, pressing them flat against his chest. Loki lay there in total, unabashed submission, stroking himself and watching Tony for a long time, more than content to be used like this. "Harder, Tony..." Loki's eyes fell closed and he moaned as Tony complied. No matter how prepared Loki had been, he was still tight around Tony; he always was, and every single time it felt incredible for Tony to bury himself in to the hilt, bare skin slapping against Loki's ass.

Pushing Loki's legs apart, Tony lowered himself down to lie on top of him, kissing him, getting into a more intimate sort of rhythm with him as Loki's arms snaked around his back, his fingers pressing into Tony's flesh as Loki pulled him close.

Tony gasped and slowed as he was aware of Loki's double behind him – he had sort of forgotten about that – until he was there. He felt fingers sliding easily into him, opening him, and there was no pain to it at all, only the thrill of having this done to him, completely outside of his control.

A smirk played across Loki's face as Tony felt the double repositioning himself, holding Tony's hips. "Do you want it, Tony?" Loki asked, smugly. "Do you want to fuck me and be fucked by me at the same time?" Tony gathered that it wasn't really a question, as he felt Loki's illusion pressing its cock against his hole, pushing into him in short thrusts, steadily increasing in depth as Tony got used to it. Tony clung to Loki somewhat helplessly as he felt the pressure on the sensitive spot within him, and Loki held him close. "I can pleasure you in ways you could never even imagine, Tony..."

It was almost too much in that instant, and Tony knew he wasn't going to last much longer like this – not that it seemed to matter. Loki was close too, panting and raking his nails down Tony's back. And then Tony remembered – Loki could feel it. He could feel Tony inside him but _also_ feel what his double was doing; in a sense, they could be inside each other _simultaneously_. "Fucking magic..." Tony mumbled, tying to work out a way to move against Loki with the double behind him.

Tony let Loki set the pace, take control. For a moment he felt uncomfortably like Loki's plaything, subjugated, used – but then he looked down at Loki, and the God of Mischief smiled up at him with real affection, allowing Tony to move past the feeling and embrace the pure, consummate physical pleasure.

Tony could sense Loki's excitement mounting underneath him as his double took Tony from behind, pushing him forward, into Loki. The double behaved exactly like Loki would when he was getting close, his thrusts increasing in speed, in fervour.

"Loki..." Tony panted, clinging to him, "Loki!" His orgasm was on him with suddenness and force, the heat flashing through his body as he felt Loki follow just after, pulling sharply at his hair, tensing underneath him before finally relaxing, breathing heavily.

The illusion slowly withdrew and apparently vanished, leaving just Tony and the real Loki. Tony rested his head on Loki's chest for a moment, feeling Loki's body rise and fall a little with his breathing. Tony closed his eyes and listened to Loki's heartbeat, which sounded just like anyone else's heart would. Tony could feel his body surrendering to sleep, so languidly disentangled himself from Loki and collapsed onto the bed next to him – thoroughly exhausted and thoroughly satisfied.

Loki rolled onto his side, and Tony kissed him and held him close, not caring that this was more affection than he usually gave Loki. That was the most bizarre thing he had ever done, and it had been _incredible._ Tony wanted to keep Loki against him, wanted to be close to him.

God, maybe Tony _did_ love Loki, he realised with a start. He loved the way Loki made him feel, the things they did together. Loki met his eyes momentarily and kissed him back, and Tony wanted it to last forever. He could feel the soft pressure of Loki's lips, the familiar little movements of his tongue running over Tony's lower lip, and their kiss was the last thing that Tony was aware of before he fell asleep.


	23. Contraptions

**23: Contraptions**

There was still debris to be cleared in New York from the recent bad weather. Loki protested that this was not his fault and therefore not his responsibility to fix, and Tony just humoured him and refused to argue, which Loki found hilariously irritating. He couldn't talk Tony into getting him out of it if Tony wouldn't participate in the conversation. This was what the people of New York needed, and it didn't _matter_ whether or not it was Loki's responsibility.

Loki resentfully accepted his day's task, and with Thor and Iron Man, they managed to greatly improve the condition of several roads.

A truck was loaded with another load to be removed, mostly to be sent to landfill. At the end of the street police officers pulled away the metal fences that formed the police cordon to wave the truck through, SHIELD agents watching this closely. It was nearing the end of the day, the light just starting to fail, and a combination of tiredness and complacency bore at least some of the responsibility for what happened next.

A shout went up and Tony saw police scattering. A large, black SUV barrelled through the gap in the cordon and raced towards them, its engine whining, revving highly.

The car was heading straight for Loki, but he made no attempt to run away – there wasn't time, anyway, as the car would be on him in a matter of seconds. There wasn't even time for Tony or Thor to come to his rescue, and all Tony could do was watch.

Loki confidently held out his hands in front of him and the front of the car slammed into him – and in that instant the material of the car was transformed. Countless thousands of fragments flew around him, their momentum carrying them forwards, scattering out across the ground. The driver, likewise, kept travelling forward with the momentum and rolled several times along the ground, coming to a stop several feet behind Loki in a pile of the fragments of what used to be her car. It took Tony a second to process what he was looking at, what these fragments were, and when he did, he let out a nervous laugh. It was chocolate and candy.

Loki turned around nonchalantly, despite being knee-deep in a pile of bars of chocolate and what would appear to be skittles. Tony flew over to him and landed next to him.

Loki regarded the woman on the ground with a look of rage, and she, bewildered, staggered to her feet and looked back at him. She was no one that Tony recognised; just a random member of the public as far as Tony could tell. And she had tried to kill Loki – as if she could. That was either very brave or very stupid, or both. "Loki," Tony said carefully, afraid in case Loki tried to kill her, as Tony knew that he very easily could.

Loki held her in his gaze for a long time, and Tony could practically see him fighting with himself. Loki wanted to kill her, or at least hurt her, but he knew that he couldn't. In the end, Loki took in a sudden, deep breath, leaned down and picked up a bar of chocolate from on top of the pile. He bit into it and kept watching her as she nervously backed away from him, evidently having no idea what do now, completely delirious.

Thor was at her side then, leading her away, taking her over to SHIELD.

Tony raised the mask of the Iron Man suit, nervously looking at Loki. He suddenly noticed the palms of Loki's hands where he had taken the full impact of the speeding car – they were red as if he had burned himself, though Loki did not appear bothered by the injury. Perhaps he simply had too much adrenaline, or whatever his equivalent of that was, coursing through him to have noticed.

"Come on," Tony said gently, "let's get out of here." And with that, they left, and returned to Stark Tower.

* * *

All three of them partook of a stiff drink after that and took some time to calm down. Then, of course, SHIELD showed up and took statements from them all. They do love their statements and debriefings at SHIELD.

Thor sat next to Loki and took his hands. "I am well," Loki said, dismissively.

"We should treat his injury," Thor addressed Tony.

"Uh..." Tony raised his eyebrows and blinked, not sure what to suggest. Loki protested at the idea but Thor insisted. Tony went into the bathroom, to the medicine cabinet, and took out some antiseptic cream which was generally suitable for soothing minor burns and things of that nature. He gave that to Thor. Loki reluctantly gave in and agreed to use it, though he applied it himself, not allowing anyone else to "play nurse".

Thor and Loki went through the charade for the public of returning to Asgard, and then the charade for SHIELD of returning Loki to his room, only for Tony to go and get him after just a few minutes, leading Loki up to his apartment.

Loki seemed quiet and reserved. "Do you want a hug?" Tony asked.

Loki scoffed, and Tony saw him relax. "No," he replied.

"You sure? Someone did just try to kill you."

"Many people have tried to kill me," Loki replied, dismissively. "She did not harm me."

Tony went over and took his hand, which had faded to a much less painful-looking shade of pink already. "I've never really seen you hurt before," he said, thoughtfully.

"I am not hurt," Loki insisted. "But I did bring the rapid momentum of an object weighing two tons to a sudden stop and transform it into something else, in the same instant. It is inevitable that this would have some effect on me."

Tony had poured himself a drink, and presently poured one for Loki. "I've been thinking," Tony said slowly, as he handed Loki his glass, "she didn't really travel that far. The woman. Jarvis clocked the car at 40 miles per hour when it hit you, but she was doing less than half that when she was suddenly flying through the air, car-less."

Loki shrugged indifferently, so Tony pressed him. "You slowed her down."

"A by-product of stopping the car," Loki explained, "force was acting on her in the opposite direction–"

"So you didn't intentionally save her?"

Loki scoffed again and calmly took a sip of his drink. "No. I very nearly turned around and killed her."

Tony watched him carefully, trying to work out whether he was telling the truth. "For a second," Tony added, "I wondered why you didn't just teleport. Then I remembered, no one else is supposed to know that you can do that." Loki smiled a little and went on to quickly change the subject, asking Tony what he had made of Extremis.

"Not a lot," Tony admitted, "though I know how to re-program them..." he nearly showed Loki the program before thinking better of it. Loki had no business knowing the details. Extremis was powerful, and Loki was really far too interested in it. As to why, Tony had no idea. There was the obvious: Extremis could be used as a weapon. Or it could completely change Tony's body and his life, and thus how he and Loki related to one another. For Loki to care about that implied that Loki cared about Tony's future, as if he imagined that Tony's future was of great relevance to _his_ future...

Loki looked over the other items on Tony's desk – though of course none of the things that Tony was currently constructing to fight against Loki's magic were out on open display. And Loki _had_ to pick things up and look at them. "Don't touch that," Tony said suddenly, seeing what Loki had.

He froze, and slowly put it down. "What is it?"

Tony was reluctant to tell him, but eventually, he did. "It's a sonic taser. It causes paralysis by sound. I kind of wish it didn't exist." It had, however, been one of Tony's many ideas for ways to fight against Loki, should he ever need to.

Loki looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, before asking whether he could eat something.

Tony went to the fridge and got him something to eat, and Loki sat with Tony on the couch as he wolfed down a couple of sandwiches. He then set aside the plate and shifted close to Tony, resting his head on his shoulder. "Are you tired?" Tony asked.

Loki nodded. Tony expected himself to be disappointed that, for once, perhaps they weren't going to have sex, but he sort of wasn't. As long as he was with Loki, he was happy. _Oh man, when had that happened?_

"We could watch some more Doctor Who," Tony suggested.

"Oh no, not that program again," Loki replied, sitting up.

Tony laughed. "It's amazing, you know it. I'll find another Dalek episode, seeing as they're your favourites."

"They are equipped with a whisk and a plunger!" Loki cried, "How do they build anything? It doesn't make sense!"

Tony fell into uncontrollable laughter, and Loki could not help but smile and shake his head. He admitted, "It's a kids' program, officially."

Loki looked exasperated. "That explains a lot. Then why were we watching it?"

"I like it," Tony replied. "It's a cool show. Lighten up. Lots of adults watch it."

"Or, you are just a child," Loki retorted.

Tony laughed and thought for a moment. "Loki, do you have any children?" Tony couldn't help but wonder. Loki had been alive a long time, after all.

"Do you?" He asked back.

"Not that I know of," Tony replied, and Loki rolled his eyes. "You'll hurt your eyes if you keep doing that after everything I say. Answer me."

"You know," Loki mused, "I could give you children, if that's what you want."

_What the fuck. _"What? No. If I had a free month or so, I could explain to you everything that's wrong with that."

Loki shrugged indifferently. "Well, if ever you change your mind."

"You're just avoiding the question."

Loki was silent for a long time, thinking, tracing patterns on Tony's arm with his fingers. "Three," he said finally. "But it would difficult to explain the matter to you."

"Try me." Tony wondered what kind of a father had been and continued to be – unless he was the _mother_ in this set up...

Loki sighed. "Their mother was a shape-shifter, like me. For this reason, they are not like other Aesir. I do not wish to discuss this any further."

"Okay," Tony assured him. He spoke of his children in the present tense, which implied that they were still alive, but there could be any number of other issues going on here. _Shape-shifters_. Tony could probably not even imagine the crazy stuff that went on Asgard, but he was insufferably curious about it... "I'd like to go to Asgard one day," he said.

Loki smiled. "I would like you to come to Asgard. You would be the only friend I would have there."

"You have Thor. And these children of yours, apparently..."

"They do not live in Asgard," Loki said flatly, the smile gone from his face, replaced with a scowl. "They were even less accepted by that society than I was."

"I'm sorry," Tony said, genuinely meaning it despite not knowing what Loki was talking about. It didn't sound good, whatever it was. "What about their mother?"

"We have not seen one another for centuries," Loki shrugged, as if this was not important. "I was young at the time. It was foolish, really, I suppose. But it happened as it was prophesied. It was destiny."

"I don't believe in destiny," Tony retorted. Loki rolled his eyes. Tony snapped, "Keep rolling your eyes, perhaps you'll find your brain back there. Destiny is just an excuse for not taking responsibility. You have to make your own decisions."

Loki laughed. "You see, Tony, _making your own decisions_ is precisely what causes your destiny to happen. That is why it is your destiny to start with."

Tony blinked. That sounded as though it made sense, even though he was sure that it didn't. Loki added, "It is really quite simple." There was a pause, before Loki pressed the point. "Do you want children?"

"Why are you so interested?" Tony frowned.

Loki shrugged. "It is a simple enough question."

Tony sighed. "I don't know. It's kind of a moot point. I've lost count of the number of people who want to kill me; it would be irresponsible to involve anyone else."

"You _are_ irresponsible."

"With myself, sure," Tony retorted, "but when it affects other people, it's different." Loki shrugged, and Tony got the distinct impression that he had never given much thought at all to the impact of his actions on anyone else.

Tony put his arm around Loki. "Let's watch something. Maybe you'll like Star Trek." Loki raised his eyebrows in an expression of how doubtful he was that he would like any show produced on Midgard, but nevertheless went along with the idea. He smiled at Tony and leaned forward and kissed him once on the lips, with affection rather than lust.

They stayed there together and watched the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seeing as it raised a few philosophical questions in which Loki may be interested in. It turns out, he was interested, and Tony had to pause it several times so that they could argue about it. Loki enjoyed it, though he wasn't on the side of Captain Picard and the Federation - not that Tony had ever expected him to be.

By the time the show was finished it was getting pretty late, and they calmly headed to the bedroom together, got undressed and went to bed, as if they did this all the time. They even lay there together and talked for a while longer, until Tony could feel himself getting sleepy, despite the incongruity of everything about this situation.

Tony let Loki curl up against him, stroking his long hair, drinking in his smell, the sound of his breathing. He loved having Loki lying next to him far too much to get him to leave, and he couldn't even care about the possibility of anyone noticing that Loki was gone.

Loki kissed him, pushing Tony's hair back affectionately. Tony smiled and let the action comfort him, feeling himself drifting off to sleep gradually. He opened his eyes for a second just to look at Loki. Loki studied him closely, and said, "I love you."

"What?" Tony was not sure he could believe what he had heard. He felt his body tense and bring him sharply back to consciousness.

"Do not make me say it again," Loki grumbled.

_Fuck_. Tony was not sure what to do at this point; did he say that he loved Loki back? He had a lot of feelings for Loki, but he _couldn't_ say that. "I..." he hesitated. "I'm kind of infatuated with you," he said vaguely.

Loki smiled weakly. "That is more than most can say. I will take it."

Tony felt a surge of emotion in his chest, feeling sorry for the man next to him, though he knew that he shouldn't. He explained, "We really haven't known each other very long," _and you've killed a whole bunch of people. –But – so have I..._

Loki nodded. "It is alright," he said, his voice slightly uneven. "You are like me. You know how weak, how vulnerable it makes you – sentiment."

Tony took a deep breath. "Yeah," he said absently, suddenly reminded of Pepper. People were after Tony and/or Iron Man all the time, and by extension... "Everyone close to me is in danger," he said suddenly, thinking aloud.

"Indeed," Loki replied. He bit his lip and spoke carefully, "I believe this is why, in fiction, your superheroes have secret identities."

"I'm not a superhero," Tony said flatly. "I'm not even a hero. I just like getting the praise."

Loki stared at Tony for a long time, holding him in that penetrating gaze, and Tony felt as if he had nowhere to hide. "I do not believe that," Loki said, finally. "When we first met, I thought that you were like me. I was wrong. You're a better man."

"I'm really not..." Tony replied, realising how badly he had probably hurt Loki by not reciprocating. For all Loki's outward confidence, deep down, Tony knew that Loki didn't think that he deserved to be loved, and all Tony was doing here was confirming that belief that he already had about himself...

Or, this was all one of Loki's tricks. Loki spent so much time lying – how could Tony know? Loki probably didn't really love him anyway, Tony assured himself. Loki was saying it to try and get more power, to get Tony to trust him. That was far more likely. Tony was planning to betray Loki, after all, trying to work out how to restrain him. All this time, Tony had basically just wanted Loki for sex. He had put himself and other people in danger in pursuit of this _relationship_, or whatever you would call it. Tony knew that he was a generally irresponsible and selfish person. So no, Tony didn't believe that Loki loved him now – and that Loki certainly _wouldn't_ if he knew Tony better.


	24. The Prince

**24: The Prince**

"Well look at you," Tony said, affectionately, "all wrapped up in your little burrow."

Loki glared at Tony from underneath the covers. "I am a god, Stark, I do not _burrow_."

"Snug as a bug in a rug," Tony went on.

"Tony... I am certain that at least half of what you say does not make sense."

Tony laughed. "It doesn't make sense _to you_. It's an expression, don't worry." Tony let himself lie back in the bed for a moment. He had been woken early by a call from Maria Hill at SHIELD, telling him that it was clear that there would be far too much of a media circus to take Loki anywhere. The attempt to kill Loki had happened in public; it had been filmed, it was all over the news, the internet.

Therefore, Tony had to go to a press conference early that morning. Thor had agreed to attend it as well, to try and explain exactly what had happened and what Loki had done. Thor would be better placed to explain magic than Tony was.

But just at the moment, Tony hated the thought of getting out of bed. He pulled the covers over himself and Loki, kissing him, holding him close, wishing that they could just hide there forever, hide from everyone, hide from everything, but too soon, it was time to leave.

* * *

It was Thor's idea to take Loki with them to the press conference. Thor wanted to try and explain how Loki had injured himself by choosing to defend himself in such a way that the woman who had tried to kill him had not been harmed. Tony realised that this was surely true; it would not be Thor's idea to lie. Though with Loki's hands almost entirely recovered, and no one on Midgard understanding magic – Tony had to persuade Thor not to try and press that point too much.

Tony returned Loki's shackles to Thor having learned very little from them. Whatever enchantment was at work, it was not something that he was able to interpret. Loki was then taken with them, muzzled and shackled, and sat between Thor and Tony, glaring out at the assembled journalists.

Tony got to explain what had happened, though he strayed from the script a little, and eventually just stopped referring to it. Tony concluded, "And because Loki's _such a nice guy_, he's not going to be pressing charges."

He glanced at Loki, who rolled his eyes, and Tony couldn't help but smile a little, even hearing a few other people in the room laugh, albeit nervously.

There were to be no questions, but one of the journalists in the front row was determined that there should be. "Take the muzzle off him," he cried, rudely, not even referring to Loki by name, as if Loki were an animal dragged out for display. "We want to hear what he has to say for himself." A rumble of agreement went up around the room, though one of the PR staff insisted that Loki would not be taking questions.

Loki appeared amiable, as if he would very much like the chance to make himself heard. _Of course he would_, thought Tony, as his curiosity was piqued by what Loki may take the opportunity to say. Loki and Thor exchanged a look, and Thor leaned forward to the microphone. "What is it that you wish to ask him?"

A clamour went up in the room. In the end, the same rude journalist who had made the original request got to speak. "Yes, I would like to ask Loki whether he's sorry for what he did, whether he is making amends here out of a genuine desire to change, or just because he's being forced to."

_Shit_. Tony shot a look at Thor, silently imploring him not to let Loki answer. Thor looked at Loki, and Tony knew that Loki would be giving him the puppy eyes, which he was way too good at. Thor reached out to the back of Loki's head and removed the muzzle.

Loki slowly turned to face forward, surveying everyone in the room carefully. He licked his lips and leaned forward, confidently, nonchalantly. "I regret what happened–" Noise rose and fell in the room. Tony widened his eyes and wondered just where Loki was going with this, seeing as he was pretty sure that Loki regretted nothing. Loki continued, "and I do wish to help you. I have always wished to help you. Things are not as you have been led to believe. You would all have been better off under my rule–" Loki continued to talk over the noise, "and I will tell you why. Thor and I are of Asgard, a civilisation advanced so far beyond this one that your pitiful minds cannot even begin to imagine it. I wish to share, with you, our advances. In Asgard there is no poverty, no disease, no serious internal conflict. I meant to bring this about on Earth," he said, earnestly.

Tony stood and told Thor, "Get him out of here."

Loki was a hero in his own mind, and he would not shut up until he convinced everyone else of the same thing. He went on, "Thor, and Odin the King, do not regard you as worthy of these gifts; they pretend to care for you whilst keeping themselves above you, to rule you at distance, their playthings, their _pets–_"

Thor pulled Loki to his feet, but with incredible speed Loki wrapped his chains tightly around the microphones in front of him, and even Thor had to struggle with him for a second. Loki cried, "I could advance your pathetic civilisation a thousand years in one afternoon–"

Thor pulled Loki back, hard, tearing many of the microphones out from their docks, filling the air with an insufferable noise of feedback and static. Loki shouted over the din, "_I_ am not the villain here! I am a political prisoner!"

Thor dragged him out of the room as a clamour went up among the journalists. Loki looked back at them all and Tony could clearly see the glint in his eyes, the way he broke into a wide grin at the sight of all the people he could work into a frenzy just by opening his mouth.

"What the hell was that?!" Tony shouted, once the three of them were alone.

"The truth!" Loki shouted back.

"No," Tony shook his head. "You were bullshitting everyone and you knew it, Machiavelli. You don't even believe that nonsense, you can't possibly."

"It matters not," Loki replied, with a smile. "But do you not think it fair, under the principle of _free speech_ that you hold so dear, that I should at least get to present my side of the argument?"

"You presented _your side of the argument_ when you brought a Chitauri hoard charging through a portal," Tony retorted. "That was your fucking argument."

"Tony is right," Thor interjected. "This is madness, Loki. All you have gained with these people in the last three weeks, you have thrown away."

Loki sneered, "I care not what the mortals think of me. There are people on this planet who believe it," he continued. "I am trying to stimulate a debate, encourage your people not to take things at face value."

Tony sighed in exasperation. "Are you sure you're not just trying to make life a little more difficult for The Avengers? You know how mistrusted we are already..."

Loki just smirked. It was _infuriating_.

Thor confined Loki to his room and joined Tony upstairs. He was too angry with his brother to even be with him. Thor paced up and down the room, and Tony was pretty damn sure that the God of Thunder was about to break something.

Thor span around to face Tony. "He is... stronger, since he has been here," Thor paused, frowning with consternation. "That should not be." Tony kept his face neutral, knowing that Loki was stronger because Tony had seen that he'd eaten really quite well. He suddenly felt that he had become someone whom Loki could exploit...

Thor asked, "Have you allowed him to eat, when you have seen him?"

"Nope," Tony replied, easily. "He ate part of that woman's car, yesterday..."

Thor seemed to suspect Tony of lying, but couldn't be sure. "There is more to it than that." And then he snapped, "Stop seeing him."

Tony stood there in silence, and it took everything he had not to furiously reply that Tony could see who he wanted, do what he wanted... But Tony nodded. "I'll go tell him," Tony volunteered. "He misbehaved, that's his punishment. Fair enough, supernanny."

"It is not merely _his_ punishment," Thor retorted. "Do not lie to me again." Thor then turned his back on Tony and marched out of the apartment.

* * *

When Tony went to see Loki, he was already a lot less angry with him than he had been at first. Tony temporarily got rid of the SHIELD agents outside Loki's door so that they could speak privately, Loki watching him nonchalantly all the while from the chair in his room. Tony stood outside the door, realising that it had been quite some time since they were last in these circumstances. But this was the way that it was supposed to be – Loki was supposed to be a prisoner.

"Thor says we can't see each other anymore. And I didn't come here to rescue you from your tower, princess."

Loki rolled his eyes and idly fiddled with the armour on his forearm. He was back in his usual Asgardian dress, for some reason – probably to make himself look intimidating. Loki looked as if he didn't care about what Tony had said, but he had told Tony that he loved him little over 12 hours ago, so surely he did. For once, Tony felt like he had the advantage in every sense.

"You've just been waiting, haven't you?" Tony began, "You've been biding your time until you got the chance to say something like that."

Loki finally looked up at him. "I do believe it," he said, frankly. "This realm is in a state of chaos. We could rectify that."

"_We?_ How would either of us rectify that?"

A smile played across Loki's face. "By ruling this world. Forcing the mortals into line."

"I'm a mortal–"

"You don't have to be," Loki interrupted, getting up and coming over to the doorway, leaning on one side of the frame. "With Extremis you could, as you yourself once said, make yourself like me. There would be almost no limit to your power."

"Just like there's almost no limit to _your_ power," Tony retorted. "And look at how carried away you get. Can you imagine us together?"

"I frequently do."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Let's just be clear here, you're proposing, that the two of us rule the planet as... what? Equal partners?"

"Exactly."

"You see, no, that's not gonna work," Tony thought about it for a minute. "I'm not the _equal partners_ type, and neither are you. We'd probably go to war with each other in about a week. Or we'd just trash the entire planet because there would be no one to call us on our bullshit and we'd get stuck in a feedback loop of insanity where we would lead each other to do progressively more insane things."

Loki laughed at that, but Tony was struck by how that didn't just apply to them _politically_. In the time they had been together, Tony had rather lost control of himself, because Loki was just as impulsive as he was, and just as keen to believe that all his own ideas were good ideas. He could totally imagine himself and Loki going to Las Vegas and gambling away tens of thousands of dollars and randomly getting married – but ruling the world? No sale. No way. As much as Tony liked to be in charge of things, even he couldn't be taken in by an idea like that.

Tony shook his head. "Just when I thought you were starting to behave yourself..."

"What do you mean, _behave_ myself?" Loki asked as if he was offended by the very notion.

"Well, you haven't killed anyone recently. Or tried to." Loki looked down at the floor uncertainly, and Tony quickly added, "That's _good_, Loki!"

Loki merely shrugged, and then said commandingly, "Get in here."

"No," Tony scoffed. Oh, _this_ brought back memories...

"Are you afraid of me?" Loki asked that familiar question, but there was something different about it this time. He still sounded as though he was mocking Tony, but there was an edge of uncertainty to it as well, as if he really hoped that Tony wasn't.

"No," Tony answered, trying to keep the word free of all intonations and implications.

Loki stood immediately in front of Tony in the doorway, so close, and yet so utterly powerless to do anything. If Tony did pass the mystical forcefield, go through the looking glass, then things would be utterly different: Loki would have almost total power over him with his strength and his magic. The scales always had to tip, one way or the other. They could not be equals unless Tony had the Iron Man suit – or, if he used Extremis, perhaps...

Tony remained outside the room in a state of serious indecision. On the one hand, he wanted to go in there to be with Loki, but on the other, he didn't want Loki to _win_. Loki, as if realising this, appeared to accept defeat and wandered out of Tony's field of vision, leaning against the wall and staring out of the opposite window. Perhaps he wanted to be alone, or perhaps he was bluffing.

Tony stepped into the room and Loki turned his head to regard him with nothing but indifference. He then looked back up at the ceiling. "Get out of my room."

Tony found himself hurt by such a dismissal. "Why?"

"Do I need to justify my own peace? It's my room."

Tony closed the door and went over to him. "It's my building."

Loki just sighed and tipped his head back against the wall, exhibiting his long, slender neck as he stared absently at the ceiling. Standing before Loki, Tony's face level with his neck, he leaned in close and scattered kisses over it. Loki took a deep breath but didn't respond to him. Tony leaned forward and let his weight press against Loki's body, to apparent Loki's annoyance.

"What do you think Thor would do if he caught us now?" Tony asked, playfully. But Loki did not shift his gaze down to him. Tony was sure that Loki was just pretending, to force Tony to work for his affection. Tony rested his hand on the armour on Loki's chest, feeling how solid and tough it was. Perhaps Loki felt vulnerable, and was hiding himself within his ridiculous apparel. That was one possibility... Tony considered it as he returned his mouth to Loki's neck, and sucked hard on the skin just next to the hollow of Loki's throat, wanting to mark Loki's skin, mark it where it could be seen, so people knew that Loki was _his_. Tony moaned into it a little, feeling himself becoming aroused, bringing his hand up to push back Loki's hair behind his ear, hold the side of his face.

Loki let him do all this, but still didn't respond to him. Tony leaned back to look up at Loki, who, in return, finally looked down at him, studying Tony like an object. Tony had never failed to turn Loki on before, and he wasn't about to let this be the first time.

"What's wrong with you?" Tony didn't entirely mean to phrase the question that aggressively.

"Nothing," Loki answered, flatly.

Tony frowned. "Why do I get the feeling that there's something you're not telling me?"

Loki laughed and tipped his head back again, returning his gaze to the ceiling. "Oh, Tony, you will simply not live long enough for me to tell you of all the things that I am not telling you," he said it casually at first, but his eyes flickered with a certain sadness. "You cannot comprehend what that is like for me."

"What, to care about a _lowly mortal_?"

Loki smiled weakly. "To care for someone who in walking so quickly into the arms of death." He took a deep breath and added, "That is why Extremis interested me so much. I wanted to... to save you."

_I don't deserve to be saved._ The thought came to Tony unbidden and hit him hard. Of all the people on Earth, why should it be him? Why should he have all this power? Sometimes he was convinced that he deserved it, more often he was convinced that it was better him that someone else, like Justin Hammer. Tony couldn't ask Loki why he believed Tony to be worth saving, because Tony knew what Loki would be likely to say. And having Loki declare his love for Tony was a problem. Tony suddenly realised – if Loki could withhold sex until Tony said it back, well, that could be one way to get to hear it. Maybe that was what Loki was doing. The truth was, Loki could be doing and thinking just about anything. Tony never knew what to make of him.

Tony stepped away. Loki's eyes glinted as if he had achieved some kind of a victory at some point. Tony just grinned back at him and laughed flippantly. Let Loki win his little mind games: none of that stuff mattered. Tony would figure out how to protect himself from Loki's magic sooner or later, and then he would win in reality, in any kind of real fight. He went over to the door and walked out, throwing a glance back at Loki, and swearing that he caught the god out in a momentary look of disappointment, uncertainty, as if for once things had not gone the way that Loki had planned.

Tony went back to his apartment to work further on a dampening field for Loki's magic, and although he couldn't possibly know, he felt that he was making progress. He would let Loki wait, alone, downstairs.

Many times, as the day wore on, Tony very nearly talked himself out of this plan and went back to Loki, but in the end, he kept his resolve. The walls of his apartment were now equipped with hidden generators of the field, and the manual labour involved in setting that up went a long way to quell Tony's general sense of frustration and restlessness.

The field could be deployed if necessary and stood a reasonable chance of repressing Loki's magic. And yet - there was something unsatisfying about it. Tony took a deep breath as he realised: he hoped that he would never have to use it.


	25. A Living Thing

**25: A Living Thing**

The first thing that Tony was aware of when he woke was how odd it was to wake up alone. He stretched out in the bed and thought of Loki– since when had Loki become the first thing he thought about every morning? _Screw Loki_ – dammit, that started an entirely different train of thought...

In Tony's imagination, Loki had spent the night forlornly pining for him, but if that was the case, then Loki didn't show it. All day, he behaved with his usual confidence, though, if anything, he was too confident – like he was overcompensating.

The two black ravens who followed Thor and Loki, which had, for the most part, kept their distance and silently observed, were on this day making a nuisance of themselves. They both perched in front of Thor and cawed frantically, stretching their wings out. Thor watched all of this with grim concentration, looking as if he could understand them – and hell, perhaps he could.

Loki, having also seen this, stood at Iron Man's side as they asked Thor what the meaning was of the birds' actions. Thor turned to Loki, and told him, "We are needed in Asgard."

Loki stared at him. "The Chitauri are coming here tomorrow, and if we are not here to defend Stark–"

Thor looked at Tony thoughtfully. "We could take him with us."

"No," Loki retorted, suddenly sounding quite worked up. "It is not just him. What action do you think the Chitauri will take when they arrive on Midgard to find all of us gone from here? They will take their revenge on the planet's civilians."

Thor frowned and looked upset. "You are right. And yet my father tells me that Asgard needs me. I must make a hard decision."

Loki scoffed. "There is only one rational choice," he said simply. "Asgard has other warriors. Midgard has none but us three who can defend it from the Chitauri."

"Uh, excuse me," Tony interjected, raising the mask of the Iron Man suit. "We have the Avengers."

Loki looked at him disparagingly. "Your last victory came more by luck than judgement, and you know it. Much was lost in the battle, there was much collateral damage. If we stay, it need not be that way again."

"In the same way," answered Thor, "without me – what of the collateral damage to Asgard – to our home?"

"_Your_ home," Loki spat.

"There is a third option," Tony said, "you two go back to Asgard, I'll stay here and fend off the Chitauri, with the Avengers, with SHIELD."

"No," Loki said quickly, and Tony could see that he was scrambling to come up with a justification. "If anyone should learn that the Chitauri came here because of us, and at that moment, we abandoned this realm..."

"I'd say they just came for me," Tony shrugged.

Loki met his eyes and looked at him almost pleadingly – and Tony realised just how much Loki wanted to remain with him; _too much_.

Thor looked between them and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. Thor turned to Tony, "Could you allow us a moment to speak, privately?"

Tony lowered the mask and left them, though he wished he could know what they were saying to each other he distracted himself with the work that they were supposed to be doing.

A few moments later he was told that they had decided to stay: but only for tomorrow. Tony was relieved to have the mask to hide his emotions as he felt an ache in his chest at the sudden, lurching realisation that Loki would be leaving, and not only that, he would be leaving _tomorrow_. That was too sudden, too unfair – there was so much more Tony wanted to do with him, so much more time Tony wanted to spend with him.

"I could go with you, after tomorrow. I could help." Tony offered, trying to keep himself calm.

Thor looked at him as if this was a thoroughly absurd suggestion. One of the ravens landed on Thor's shoulder and cawed frantically again. Thor answered, "The All-father does not approve of such a thing." Not knowing much about Odin, Tony wondered what exactly the king didn't approve of – Tony going to Asgard in general, or of him as some kind of a companion for Loki. Tony suddenly imagined himself going to Asgard and finding himself in some sort of bizarre sci-fi/fantasy version of _Meet the Parents_.

Thor then glanced at Loki, whose eyes were fixed on Tony all the while. Thor continued, "It is for the All-father to decide what will happen to Loki. But, he will either be returned to his punishment, unless we should need his help."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Locked away until you might have use of me..." He glowered at his brother. "Perhaps I would only render my help if Tony–"

"You are in no position to be making bargains, Loki," Thor answered, shortly, conclusively.

* * *

Later, Loki didn't ask what Tony would do if Thor found out about what Tony was doing; he surely didn't care. Tony went to get him, and Loki followed him upstairs, knowing that this may well be their last night together, after all. They had silently agreed to a truce, a ceasefire in their competitive and oppositional dynamic, and Tony deliberately tried not to give any thought to all that he had been doing to defend himself against Loki. He had no desire to defend himself now. He wanted to surrender himself to Loki completely, and didn't even care about what that meant or what the consequences might be.

There was an odd atmosphere between them, a certain acute awareness of the pressure to make their time _count_ more than usual somehow.

By way of punishment, yesterday, Thor had not allowed Loki the food that he had been scheduled to have, so Tony gave him some food and, again, didn't care a damn about what anyone else might think of that. They sat at the table and talked a while about Asgard, and Loki advanced some theories as to what may be going on there – but this was all speculation. Loki would have to take Thor back so that they could speak to Odin in person.

At one point, Loki started talking _a lot_ about Odin, so Tony took his hand and led him to bed.

Loki was still rather downcast and serious. He said earnestly, "Whatever happens tomorrow, I want you to know..."

Tony stroked his hair. "We'll be fine tomorrow."

Loki nodded. He kissed Tony, and said, suddenly, "I love you." He said it so simply, so honestly – as far as Tony could tell.

Tony swallowed hard. Loki took his silence for not feeling the same way, but honestly, Tony had no idea whether he felt the same way– _Oh, the hell with it._ "I love you too." Tony said it without being sure of his own intentions; he tried to convince himself that he was saying it because he wanted to keep seeing Loki, he wanted Loki to trust him... but maybe Tony meant it. He didn't know anymore.

Loki smiled widely and Tony could see in his eyes just how much it meant to him. Loki needed to be loved. He looked like he might cry or something. Loki wrapped his arms around Tony tightly and kissed him enthusiastically, _gratefully_.

They undressed as quickly as they could, and then met each other for another, deeper kiss. Loki pushed his tongue into Tony's mouth and Tony met it with his own, pushing forward as much as he could to taste Loki. They lay on their sides, facing each other, as close together as possible, Loki hooking one leg over Tony. Tony let his hand sweep down Loki's side and around the curve of his ass to his thigh, just as he took Loki's lower lip into his mouth. Loki pressed himself against Tony even more firmly and sighed blissfully, his growing erection throbbing against Tony's. As Loki rolled Tony onto his back and got on top of him, it was deeply satisfying to feel the two of them pressed flush against each other, muscular bodies writhing together, hands clutching desperately at each other, physically learning, memorising everything about each other.

Loki's kissed his way down Tony's neck, occasionally taking the skin between his teeth, marking it down to Tony's shoulder. He kept going, down Tony's arm, drawing his face over the skin, kissing lightly along Tony's forearm to his wrist. He planted feather-light kisses there, delicately trailing his fingers over it. Tony could feel the goosebumps all over his body in response, and he took in a deep, shaking breath.

Tony brought his hand to Loki's hair and pulled him back for a kiss, raking his nails up Loki's back and feeling the exquisite way that Loki would tense and then relax against him, relishing Loki's involuntary little moans and gasps of ecstasy. Tony pushed him by the shoulder, and there was a playful moment of back-and-forth before Loki was convinced to lie back on the bed.

Tony kissed down Loki's chest, taking his time over one of Loki's nipples, swiping his tongue across it heavily before giving it lighter, more fleeting touches. He kept going down, over Loki's firm stomach, down to his hip bones. Loki drew his legs apart, wrapping them around Tony's shoulders as Tony took Loki's cock into his mouth. Tony loved to do this for Loki more than he had ever imagined he would; feeling Loki sliding between his lips, filling his mouth; Tony enjoyed it in the same basic way that he enjoyed kissing, but this brought Loki so much more pleasure. It brought Tony pleasure too, and he moaned around Loki, let him feel the vibration, let him know that Tony was his and was more than happy to please him this way.

Loki guided Tony's fingers to his entrance, and Tony soon added that pleasure. He didn't just have it in mind to prepare Loki; he wanted Loki to really enjoy this as well. Tony massaged that most sensitive place inside, feeling Loki relax around him, opening up to him with the desire for more.

Tony's mouth left him and he made his way back up Loki's body, looking down at him as he had so many times, Loki eagerly applying lube to him, wordlessly urging Tony to enter him. When Tony took him, he did it slowly and deeply, letting Loki accommodate him comfortably. He pulled out after a moment to sit on the bed, and Loki did as Tony wanted without questioning it, straddling Tony's lap, facing him. He lowered himself down and Tony pulled him close, moaning against Loki's shoulder as he felt the tight heat of Loki's ass consume his cock again, taking it deep inside.

It was an incredibly intimate position, like this; they could wrap their arms tightly around each other, kiss, see each other. Tony held Loki by the waist as the god bucked his hips on top of Tony, breathless, trembling, barely able to keep his eyes open as the pleasure washed over him. Tony realised that Loki was close and wrapped his fingers around his cock, stroking him. "Come, Loki."

Loki whimpered a little, and it took him some time to get enough breath to make any kind of answer. "Same time..." he murmured.

Tony fell onto his back and pulled Loki with him, able to meet Loki's movements with his own, starting to get close himself. Loki's fingertips dug against Tony's flesh and he bit his lip as Tony took increasing control. Tony increased the speed of his hand around Loki's cock and could pinpoint the moment that Loki finally surrendered, a loud moan escaping him. "Tony!" he cried out as he let his head fall against the pillow, and Tony could feel Loki's body spasm as he got his release.

Loki clutched at Tony's shoulder and his side as Tony continued to ride him through the orgasm, forcefully rolling him onto his back. There was nothing quite like being on top of Loki, seeing him lying there with his eyes closed, his mouth hanging open, so helplessly taken over by the ecstasy that Tony could give him. Thrusting himself deep into Loki, Tony soon reached his own climax – a powerful surge of pleasure which shot through him, leading him to collapse on top of Loki, panting.

All there was then, as Tony rested his head on Loki's chest was the sound of Loki's breathing, Loki's fingers in his hair and gripping him firmly by the shoulder. Tony could tell from the way that Loki was continuing to touch him that he wanted it again – as soon as possible. Loki didn't want to stop at all, and neither did Tony. Tony kissed him and took Loki's hand in his, interlinking their fingers and holding him back against the mattress for a moment, so they could at least get their breath back a little.

Tony pulled Loki's hand to his lips, kissing the back of it, his palm, running his lips along Loki's fingers and taking them into his mouth. Loki lay in silence underneath him, watching, his chest rising and falling quickly. Tony moved to put one leg each side of Loki, and then pulled Loki's hand down between his legs, bringing Loki's fingers to his hole, and Tony pressed himself down on them. Before he met Loki he had never imagined that he would want this so badly, but now it was possible that he might not see Loki again, at least not for a while, after tomorrow, he had to have him one last time.

Loki watched him as he carefully, slowly, massaged the tight entrance. As Loki's finger slid inside, Tony gave himself over to the feeling, kissing Loki deeply, tugging at his hair. "More," Tony murmured in Loki's ear, taking it between his teeth and pulling at it. Loki complied and worked a second finger inside, causing Tony to moan in his ear and ardently flick his tongue over it. Loki brought his mouth to Tony's neck as he steadily prepared him, licking up over his throat and then kissing him, sucking zealously at his skin. He would be leaving marks behind but Tony didn't care about that – all he cared about was Loki.

Taking Loki's erection into his hand Tony was conscious of how big he was, how incredible it really was that he could take Loki inside him and be comfortable, get real gratification from it; the kind of gratification he needed right now.

Loki pushed Tony onto his back and grabbed hold of a pillow, getting Tony to prop his hips up on it to create a better angle – not that there had ever been anything wrong with the angle before. Loki pressed the head of his cock against Tony's hole, meeting his eyes and easing forward as slowly as possible, so Tony could feel himself stretching around it, until the tip was just inside. Loki behaved as if he had all the time in the world, pulling back and entering Tony in progressively deeper thrusts. Tony winced slightly when Loki was close to getting fully inside, so Loki patiently allowed him time to adjust to it before, finally, burying himself to the hilt and resting his hips there against Tony's ass, a deep, satisfied moan rising from his throat. He leaned down on top of Tony and kissed him, stroking his hair. "No magic, this time," Loki murmured. "Just you, and me." _Oh_. Tony swallowed hard and let out a sound of surprise; he hadn't really been thinking about the details, but he realised that Loki was right.

Loki's thrusts were gentle but firm as Tony started to really enjoy it, feeling the pressure of Loki's cock against his prostate every time, until Loki would change the angle slightly, so that it wasn't too much, before going back to it.

Loki leaned down and nuzzled against Tony's neck, increasing his speed. "Tony," he breathed, "I need you."

"You have me, Loki," Tony replied, breathlessly. "You have me..."

Tony wrapped his arms around Loki and gave himself over to this, letting Loki make passionate, desperate love to him. This may well be Loki's last night on Earth, and Tony wanted to make it one to remember just as much as he did. He raised his hips to meet Loki, tangling his fingers in his hair, pulling Loki in for a kiss.

They snatched breaths between kisses as moans frantically escaped them, until they could no longer breathe like that and Loki raised himself up on his arms. Tony opened his eyes and met Loki's, temporarily transfixed by his gaze as Loki buried himself inside him. Loki was beautiful, passionate, and unfathomably well attuned to his own sexuality, as well as Tony's, and before Tony could stop himself, he breathed, "I love you."

Loki blinked and his rhythm faltered, evidently surprised, before, "And I love you." Loki leaned back down to kiss him, holding himself up only a few centimetres above Tony now, gaze fixed on him intently all the while. Tony's eyes fell closed as the intensity of it all overwhelmed him. His hand at the back of Loki's head, he pulled Loki down so they were cheek to cheek, and all they could hear were each other's sounds of rapturous pleasure as they got close.

Tony could feel his orgasm building slowly for a long time before it happened, his entire body becoming unbearably hot as Loki kept pounding into him, becoming a little erratic in his own movements. Tony grasped at Loki's back and felt himself struggle to breathe as the pleasure built up inside him. It was only then that Tony brought one hand to his leaking cock, and he knew it would only take a few strokes to finish. Tony arched his back and felt the tension break tremulously throughout his body as he came, Loki spending himself inside Tony with a few final, hard, fast, deep thrusts. "Tony..." Loki moaned into his ear, and Tony wanted to say something, anything, but he physically couldn't, at least not until he had taken in a few sharp breaths. Then he managed to murmur Loki's name while stroking his hair, feeling Loki withdraw from him with a sigh and lie next to him, arms still around him, as much as possible.

They were both so exhausted that it took real effort to position themselves comfortably in each other's arms, facing each other. Loki pulled the covers up over them and lay there, gazing at Tony with a kind of tenderness and love that Tony had never expected to see from him. Tony found that he believed it, he absolutely believed it, regardless of Loki's status as a proven liar. There are some things that can't be faked, and the look in Loki's eyes was surely one of them.


	26. The Other Strikes Back

**26: The Other Strikes Back**

Tony woke up next to Loki, immediately and acutely sad that this may be the last time. Loki had to go back to Asgard with Thor once this business with the Chitauri was resolved, to deal with whatever was going on there. Whether Loki would ever be allowed to return was impossible to say.

Loki looked silently back at him and pulled him in for a final embrace. There was nothing either could possibly say, and there was no time to remain in bed. The Other hadn't exactly given an exact time of when he and the Chitauri would be paying their visit to Earth – it could be any time today, and they had to be ready. Tony was acutely aware of the final minutes, the final seconds he had with Loki slipping through his fingers. He held Loki close, but there was nothing he could do to hold back the passage of time.

* * *

Loki went back downstairs to wait with Thor. The SHIELD agents were dismissed from the upper floors of the building - ostensibly for their own safety, but really just because Tony didn't want them intervening and complicating everything. Jane Foster, meanwhile, was in one of the research labs. From her studies of the the Einstein-Rosen bridges used by Asgard, she was fairly confident that she had a way to discern when the Chitauri would be coming. The most warning she would probably be able to give was about a minute, but that was a hell of a lot better than no warning at all.

Tony Stark donned the Iron Man suit, which is actually not a comfortable outfit in which to just _wait around_ for things. He passed the time by listening to music and drinking – albeit slowly. He didn't need to fight of a hoard of alien warriors while _drunk_.

It was into the afternoon when he finally got the warning, and sent for Thor and Loki. Tony lowered the mask of the Iron Man suit and steeled himself as the Chitauri ship materialised on the helipad outside.

Tony was a little distracted, however, as at that moment Loki seemed to just _appear_ next to him, in golden Asgardian armour and helmet. "Where the hell did you come from?" Tony asked. This was impossible. Thor should have to bring him here – but Loki was here alone, and that meant that he had somehow escaped.

"Do not worry," Loki replied, dismissively, calmly looking out at the Chitauri ship.

Tony surreptitiously entered a code into the screen on his desk to initiate the dampening field for Loki's magic. Tony _did_ have to use it. And what had happened to Thor? This turn of events seemed to invalidate everything that Tony had _thought_ he knew about Loki, not that he ever truly thought that he had Loki figured out.

Loki's body tensed slightly, and his eyes darted around the room. "Do you hear something?" He asked Tony.

Loki could _sense_ the dampening field, but he apparently didn't know exactly what it was. Tony tried to keep his voice even, despite knowing that if Loki didn't know what it was, that probably meant that it didn't work. "Nope," he replied.

Loki drew his brows together and looked around him with some confusion.

Tony also looked around, nervously. "Where's Thor?"

"He couldn't make it," Loki said, coolly.

"What? Does he have something better to do?"

There was no time to think, however, as the Chitauri emerged from their ship. They progressed in a militaristic fashion, weapons raised, walking in cautiously. The Other was behind the front couple of rows of them, and Tony guessed that there were probably about twenty in total. Damn, that was a lot – against three, or apparently two. _Where is Thor? _"Loki, you better have a plan..."

Loki made no response, merely standing there, watching. The Chitauri could, of course, see them both there, but they did not charge forward, as this looked very much like a trap.

"Welcome," Loki said amiably, "to Stark Tower. Please, come in."

The Chitauri hesitated, stalking into the room. Loki continued, "I do apologise for the change of plans. But you see, I had to have the humans trust me, I had to have them believe that I was planning to betray you."

"And have you betrayed us?" The Other asked, apparently as confused by all this as Tony was.

"After all you've done for me? Of course not."

"Loki," Tony tried to get his attention, and then, Loki turned to him, listening. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Loki explained, "I could not get the Chitauri the Tesseract, so we made a new bargain: Extremis. We will re-program it and use it however we please." He added, "Thank you for your co-operation, Stark. Most helpful." And at that, the god broke into a smile, the widest and most genuinely gleeful smile that Tony had ever seen on him, and Tony was horrified by that. Loki told him, "I always knew that I would seduce you, Stark. The only question was which I would seduce you with _first_: sex, or power."

The situation took on a sense of unreality for Tony; he felt numb and dizzy – he was shocked by what Loki was done and hated himself for that. _Of course_ Loki had betrayed him; he should never have trusted a trickster.

It all seemed so obvious now. So _this_ was how Loki had actually secured their freedom. _This_ was why Loki had helped Tony acquire Extremis. Tony cursed himself for being so self-centred as to think that Loki's interest in Extremis was all about how _Tony_ may use it, how _he_ may be aided. None of this was about him. Loki cared only for himself.

Tony walked up to Loki, who stared back at him with nothing but contempt. Tony had to speak to him. "Are you even capable of telling the truth? Of anything genuine?" When Loki did not answer, Tony added, "It's pretty low, even for you, to pretend you love someone."

"My love is vengeance," was all that Loki said in response, to that. He went on, "You see, Stark, this was my back-up plan. Did you really think I would risk everything, stake all my future and safety, on that race of marauding monsters?" he gestured at them, even though they could clearly hear everything that he was saying. "I had to prepare for their failure. And I did. I _always_ have a back-up plan."

Loki span around and drew his hands together, addressing the Other directly. "Come," he smiled, "let me show you Extremis."

Tony watched, uncertainly, as the Other, accompanied by two Chitauri, followed Loki over to the desk. The other Chitauri in the room stood at ease, and Loki calmly called up the program files. Tony's heart pounded in his chest. If he and Loki worked together, they should be able to win this fight, but Loki showed no signs of fighting.

But Tony _would_ fight them alone if he had to. There was no way in hell that Tony could let the Chitauri get out of here with Extremis; a weaponised version could kill countless numbers. "You're going to live to regret this, reindeer games," he said, feigning confidence while his mind scrambled to come up with a plan.

Loki, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what he was doing. He politely excused himself from the Other's company to stride across the room, to Tony. He grasped at the Iron Man helmet, pulling it away from the front and sides of Tony's head, the metal groaning and _tearing_ rapidly in Loki's hands.

Tony pushed him back forcefully, but even against the power of the suit Loki was incredibly strong and was soon back on him. He was able to place the palms of his hands firmly over Tony's ears, and lean forward and press a rough kiss on his lips. Tony initiated the thruster in the centre of his chest, and Loki was thrown back across the room, his back slamming into the side of the desk. All the breath knocked out of him, Loki was temporarily limp on the floor, only to struggle back to his feet seconds later.

Then, Tony realised that he could not hear properly; everything sounded muffled and distant. Loki looked up at him with seething anger, and yet, also, the tiniest glimmer of a knowing glance.

The Other and the Chitauri observed all of this closely, but did not act, though Tony knew that they would probably try to take _him_ once they had Extremis, and he would surely be in for some kind of horrible torture unless he could get out of this.

Loki held out his hand and summoned the sonic taser – the device that caused paralysis by sound. It dragged across the desk and dropped to the floor, still travelling towards Loki, but not through the air, as he expected. Loki was temporarily thrown off by this, blinking with slight confusion as he bent down to pick the device up.

His eyes then locked on Tony's, and Tony could see – _Loki knew_. Loki had worked out that Tony was doing something to repress his magic. The Chitauri had no visible means of doing it; it could only be Tony. Loki looked at him with an expression of so many emotions – too many for Tony to comprehend and process. Loki felt betrayed, confused, and alarmed. And perhaps was imagining this, or perhaps he was just projecting his own feelings onto Loki, but he could swear that there was a glimmer somewhere within Loki's eyes that showed that he was also kind of impressed. This was all quickly gone though, replaced with nothing but annoyance.

"What is that?" The Other asked him, referring to the sonic taser.

Loki turned to him and smirked. He pressed the button on it, and the Other froze. All the other Chitauri did as well, falling to the ground, only able to twitch slightly.

As Loki's magic had only been partially blocked, Tony was affected a little, feeling his knees give out underneath him, the floor rushing up to meet him as the Iron Man armour landed with a heavy thud.

"You should have trusted me," Loki said, dismissively – at least, Tony thought that was what he said.

Tony could barely move, despite the power assistance of the suit, struggling to stand up as he watched Loki take out a knife and walk around the room. Loki killed one Chitauri with a fast, effective, slash to the neck, calmly moving onto the next. All Tony could do was watch as Loki killed every last one of them like that, in a cold, methodical, unfeeling slaughter.

Loki crouched before the Other, the only one left alive. "Loki," Tony could hear his own voice now, his hearing slowly returning. He pushed himself unsteadily to his feet.

Loki glanced back at him with a gleeful smirk. "Clever, Stark," he said mirthfully. "But not clever enough. You can only fight magic with magic."

Tony took a step towards him, surrounded by carnage. "Loki," he said again, his own voice sounding strange to him, "what are you doing?"

Loki did not answer, but Tony could see his arm move. Tony gulped and took a step closer. Though the Other could not move, Tony realised, with a terrifying lurch, the look in the creature's eyes. The eyes swam with tears, rolling back with unimaginable pain. Tony could not bring himself to step any further forward, not wanting to know the gory details. He asked, hollowly, "What have you done?"

Loki allowed the cannister in his hand to fall to the floor with a clang. "Extremis," he said absently. "I reprogrammed it."

Tony's blood ran cold. "You... I'm not sure even I could re-program it, what if you made mistakes–"

"I'm sure I made several," he said, flippantly.

Due to the paralysis, the Other was not capable of writhing in pain, though Tony was sure that he would be if he could. "We have to do something. Jarvis!"

"There's nothing you can do," Loki explained, calmly. "There was only one Extremis dose, and it is already inside him. Tearing him apart," Loki growled, with relish, spitting out each word individually for emphasis, "Cell, by, _cell_."

The effects of the Extremis dose where visible on the other's skin already, as the fundamental old template of what he was was being destroyed. What he would be replaced with, Tony had no idea, and probably, neither did Loki. Certainly, he would not be replaced with anything that could live.

Tony picked up the container and quickly scanned it for any of the remaining nano-bots within. There were none. If Tony could recover them from the Other's body, and then if he could possibly re-program them, there may just be a chance...

Loki allowed him to study the program, not believing that there was any chance of success. "What is this new-found love you have for the invaders of your realm?" Loki spat. When Tony did not answer, Loki continued, shouting, "_You_ took _your_ revenge on those who held you prisoner, who tried to use you as a tool for their purposes!"

"It won't help," Tony insisted. "It doesn't help, Loki!" He brought up the screen showing the nano-bot settings, if he had a few hours there may just be something that he could do – but he didn't have hours. He glanced over at the Other and immediately regretted it, feeling nauseous at the sight. This had to be the most horrific way to kill someone that there had ever been. He gulped and asked Loki whether the Other was still alive.

Loki walked over to him and kicked him, drawing out a high whine, an impossible sound of unimaginable pain. "Yes," he told Tony, absently. He then crouched down to gloat. "You promised me that you would make me long for something as sweet as pain," he growled, "how things change." He stood calmly, and spoke again – Tony could not be sure whether he was talking to him, to the Other, or just to himself. "I do not respond well to threats. I am a god; no one will dare threaten me again."

Tony realised that it was hopeless. There were such a small number of nanobots in the Other's system, however, that it would probably take several minutes to die like this, which in that condition, would feel like an eternity. "Put him out of his misery," Tony said flatly. "Loki, just kill him."

"No," Loki insisted. "He'll die. Let us talk while we wait. Let's talk, Stark, about how you betrayed me."

"I defended myself," Tony replied. "Because this... this it what you are. A fucking insane murderer with far too much power. Do you think I'm dumb enough to leave myself open to attack?"

"I would never have attacked you," Loki said, appearing bewildered by his own feelings in that moment, "never."

There was another high whine of pain from the other. "Oh, god..." Tony said absently. "Please, he's already as good as dead, I get that. But don't put him through–"

"Do you have any idea," Loki spat, "what the Other meant to do to you, if ever he got his hands on you? This is nothing, _nothing_ compared his torture!" Loki's voice broke and Tony found that he believed him on that.

"Why him?" Tony asked. "I thought he was just a lackey for Thanos."

"He is," Loki shrugged. "But still, the Other personally inflicted needless cruelty on me. I will have my revenge on Thanos too. We have not seen the last of him."

Tony sighed. "I'll kill him," he said flatly.

"No," Loki insisted, stepping closer to Tony. "You will not. He will die, a long, slow, painful death."

"Where the hell is Thor?" Tony insisted.

Loki broke into a grin. "It would take me a long time to explain, but I trapped him in my room. I talked him into trapping himself with the spell meant to trap me."

"How there hell...?"

"We spoke for nearly an hour," Loki explained. "It was subtle. I always knew that I could do it, from the first day I arrived here, but I had no need of it," he smirked. "Not with you coming to take me to your bed every night."

Tony couldn't even deal right now with wondering how much of their _relationship_ Loki had faked. "Jarvis!" he shouted, "Full power to the dampening field." He made for the door and Loki followed, but Tony ignited the thrusters and flew, and there was nothing Loki could do to stop him while somewhat deprived of his magic. Tony shut the door behind him and commanded Jarvis not to let Loki out in any circumstances.

Tony flew down the stairs, literally ricocheting off the walls – not taking the elevator in case Loki found some way to trap him in it – and burst into what had been Loki's apartment.

"Tony!" Thor cried from the doorway. Well – the sort of doorway. Thor had evidently taken out a large part of the wall in his bid to escape.

"How do I get you out of here?"

"You have only to invite me," Thor said, flatly. Tony did that, and then he and Thor made their way back upstairs. "What has Loki done?" Thor asked.

Tony explained it to him as best as he could in the minute that it took to return to the apartment. Tony hesitated by the door, just in case Loki made some attempt to kill them the second they stepped through it. That did not happen though, and Loki could not be seen until they had progressed inside.

Loki was sat on the couch, calmly sipping a glass of scotch as he sat watching the Other before him on the floor – half dead, but still, impossibly, alive. Tony tried to explain to Thor that there was no possible way to save the Other, that the best thing to do would be to kill him.

Thor and Loki argued furiously about that for a moment, before Thor span around, and raised Mjolnir above the Other. Loki grabbed him, but without his magic he would never overpower Thor.

While the two of them battled with each other, Tony calmly stood above the Other and powered up the blaster in hand. The Other met his eyes with an expression that Tony could not interpret. Tony almost wanted to say something reassuring, like, _it'll be quick_ – but the Other was an enemy of his, and as such Tony didn't particularly feel like reassuring him. He said nothing, and with one direct blast to the head, the Other was killed.

Thor and Loki stopped fighting and turned to look at him.

"There," Tony spat at Loki. "Are you satisfied?"

Loki shrugged. "That he is dead, yes, that his suffering is over, no."

Tony took a deep breath, and then asked, "When the hell did you reprogram Extremis, anyway? When did you get the chance to do that?"

"Earlier," Loki replied, simply. "I was here."

"What, were you invisible?"

"Not exactly," he replied. "But I know how to pass unnoticed, even under your usually lecherous gaze."

"Get out," Tony said, hollowly, turning his back on Loki.

"Wait," Loki took hold of his arm, and implored him, "Please, Stark." Tony pulled away from him and walked away. "Tony!"

Tony span around to see Loki apparently genuinely upset – but no, Tony could not let himself feel sorry for Loki now. "You exploited me, you've exploited me this whole time. Whenever I have put any trust in you, you have used it to your advantage, for your own plans, so you could take out your sick, twisted revenge!"

Loki shouted, "I did it for you! These things meant to torture you far worse than I have done to them –" his voice broke. "I saved you," he said weakly. "Tony, please..."

"Get out," Tony spat. "Go back to Asgard."

"You're just like the rest!" Loki replied, his voice strained now, "You turn away from me in fear."

Tony stared at him, speechless, his mind flooded with so much that he hardly knew what he was thinking, but one thing stood out – Loki hated himself. Hated, loathed and _despised_ himself. He never truly wanted to be feared; it was all part of his messed up inferiority complex, his desire for attention, to feel like he mattered. If fear was all he could get – and it usually was – then fear was what he would take from people.

Thor, who had been listening to them carefully, grabbed Loki by the arm and led him away, down to the secure apartment below.

Tony was alone, then, surrounded once more by a trashed apartment, this time with bonus dead aliens. Perhaps the place was cursed. After this was done, Tony decided, he would have to get out of here for a while, go back to his house in Malibu. By himself.

* * *

Tony let some time pass, extricating himself from the Iron Man suit, before contacting Thor and asking him to return to the apartment to speak to him. Loki, meanwhile, was secured in a different room from the previous one. SHIELD agents had returned to guard him, and apparently SHIELD were sending over some people who could deal with all of the _mess_ that Loki had made by killing the Chitauri.

Thor returned to the apartment, and as was presumably the style in Asgard, humbly requested Tony's continued hospitality. He explained, "We cannot go back to Asgard until tomorrow; Loki's magical energy is much depleted."

"I bet it is," Tony said, derisively.

"Your technology was part of the problem," Thor retorted. "He had to fight against it."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, I didn't know what the hell he was doing. And if you're going to tell me that I should have _trusted_ him, I swear to god, I will end you."

"I would not tell you that," Thor replied, patiently. "But Loki is not entirely to blame for–"

"He tricked you and trapped you in his room!" Tony snapped, too angry with Loki to stand to hear anyone apologise for him. "Do you even care?"

"Of course," Thor frowned. "But that is a matter that can wait, for a time."

"How do you forgive him?" Tony asked, before he could stop himself. "How do you just _forgive_ him, all the time?"

Thor looked at the floor, sadly. "He is my brother, and I love him." He paused and added, "I do no believe him evil."

"Seriously?" Tony gestured around the room at the carnage, "This doesn't look like evil to you?"

"Loki is misguided," Thor said calmly. "He needs help."

"Stop apologising for him," Tony snapped. "He's a thousand years old, I think he should take responsibility."

Thor waited a moment before moving on. "What will you tell your friends?"

"What, SHIELD? They're not my friends." Tony sighed. "I have to tell them what Loki has done. They need to know that he is just as untrustworthy as ever."

Thor frowned. "My brother was fixated on his revenge, but he meant you no harm, nor to anyone else in this realm."

"Well he did harm me, mean it or not. He led me to believe that I mattered to him when all along I was nothing to him but a pawn to be used in his plan. I don't think you get how much that pisses me off."

Thor sighed and rested a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I will give you some time." Tony sighed in exasperation, but Thor continued, "I know Loki far better than you. I do believe that he cares for you. He is capable of that."

"You don't know Loki half as well as you think," Tony insisted. "You still see him as your little brother, you got so used to seeing that, you can't face what he is now. He's a sadistic, cold-blooded murderer, he's a duplicitous, completely untrustworthy, selfish liar. You're an idiot and blind to what he is!"

Thor drew his hand away, clenching it into a fist, and glared hard at Tony, struggling to keep the anger from his voice as he replied, "You are upset, so I will forgive you for how you have spoken to me." And with that, he swept out of the room.

Tony wished that he could hate Loki. He was furious and for a long time, for much of the rest of the day, believed that he _did_ hate Loki.

But he somehow didn't. He understood perfectly everything that Loki had done, as sick as it was. And as hurt as he was that Loki had betrayed him, he had betrayed Loki as well. Tony supposed that in some screwed up way, that kind of made them even.

Where they went from here, though, Tony had no clue.

* * *

A/N: There is one more chapter.


	27. The End

**27: The End**

A/N: Many thanks to everyone who read this and left feedback. Bless you for going along with my insanity.

* * *

Tony hardly slept for thinking about what Loki had said and done. He didn't stay in his own apartment, as there was the small matter of a squadron of dead Chitauri that needed to be disposed of, so he stayed in one of the guest suites instead.

His thoughts were consumed by the previous day for hours; even when he dreamed, he would re-live the experience, or re-imagine it differently. He had one nightmare in which the Chitauri had proven to be resistant to the sonic taser and attacked them in a swarm, killing Loki in the process – and Tony awoke in a cold sweat, his heart racing. These imaginings swirled around in Tony's mind in the darkness, coalescing with his memories of reality to such an extent that when he first got up, it took him some time and coffee to get the events straight.

The Other had been out to get Tony, and would have tortured and killed him if he had got the chance... so there was a sense in which Loki had saved him from that fate. If Tony had been alone when he had been taken, a couple of weeks ago, there probably wouldn't have been anything he could have done. But that didn't really excuse Loki's lies. Loki could have told him what he had planned from the beginning. Why hadn't he?

Tony trudged downstairs to Loki's apartment, though the man himself was now being kept in the other bedroom, the one _without_ half the wall missing.

The door was closed, and Tony was seriously tempted to turn around and just leave, but at that moment the door opened, and Thor emerged. He shut it behind himself. "It will be a few hours before we can journey back to Asgard," Thor told Tony, and silently conveyed that he entirely understood that Tony had a lot that he needed to talk about with Loki.

Still, Tony gave it a few more minutes. Finally, then, he went over to the door and pushed it open. Loki was sat on the bed and looking at him, having already been able to hear him, knowing he would enter the room eventually.

Loki was dressed casually in black pants and a black sweater, looking disturbingly innocuous for someone who literally killed over twenty people yesterday. He did that within the context of war, Tony supposed, but there was still something deeply chilling about how he had planned it, how he had carried it out: impassively and without any hesitation or remorse.

"The things I said, yesterday," Loki began immediately, "that was all an act for the Other. I had to convince him that I had betrayed you, used you–"

"Yeah, well, you did a damn good job of convincing me, too," Tony replied, stepping into the room and shutting the door. He had no idea whether he could believe anything Loki said anymore.

"Do you still care for me?" Loki asked him.

Tony was not sure how to respond to that. He was tempted to deny that he had ever cared for Loki, but could not be bothered to lie in such a way. There had been enough mind games. He answered, "I can't. Not now that I know what you are."

"You always knew what I was, Tony."

A long, pensive silence passed. Loki was right about that, and Tony was still arguing with himself as to whether this was ever love or just temporary insanity – not just on his part, but on Loki's as well. They were both pretty screwed up individuals right now. Maybe it wasn't possible for either of them to know what the hell they were doing – or maybe, just maybe, in each other, they had found something, some kind of kinship, affinity and solace...

Tony asked, "Why didn't you just tell me what you were doing, Loki?"

Loki bit his lip. "I did not think that you would agree to such a plan."

"Well you're right there," Tony replied. "If you had talked to me, we could have come up with a better plan, together–"

"It was not the same, then," Loki retorted. "You forget, Tony, that when the Chitauri came for us, we barely knew each other."

"We barely know each other now."

"Indeed," Loki smiled, a little sadly. "I wish–" Loki stopped himself, apparently unable to find the words with which to complete his sentence.

Unsure how to move this conversation forward, or indeed in any direction, Tony asked, "Do you think you'll ever come back to Earth?"

Loki shrugged. "If I were free, I would choose to. But it is not up to me."

"Would you come to see me, or to fuck shit up?"

Loki laughed. "Why not both?"

Tony couldn't help but smile. "I really feel like you should be supervised by a responsible adult, and I'm not one of those. Besides, maybe I..." Tony paused, realising that he didn't want to piss Loki off, so had to think before speaking for once. "Maybe I don't think it's a good idea for us to be together."

"I disagree," Loki insisted. "I think we belong together. I think we could even work together for the protection of this realm."

Tony was sceptical. "You'd protect the people you tried to enslave?"

"It was never about enslavement," Loki replied, irritated. "But, yes. Thor wishes to protect Midgard from that which threatens you in the universe, that which you cannot yet comprehend."

"Don't tell me what I can't comprehend," Tony snapped.

Loki laughed and shook his head. "I expect that we will cross paths again, one way or another. And I would consider it an honour to fight at your side. But –" he added, "if you would oppose me, I would destroy you." An amused little smirk played across his face. "It is not in my nature to be honest, but if you insist on it, Tony, there you are."

Tony just looked at him, dumbstruck. He didn't see how be at this man's side ever again; he should never have been there at all. And he was deeply ashamed that he had let anyone get to him the way that Loki had. "You used me, you betrayed me," he said, hollowly.

"I did what I had to do, you understand. I did not know whether I could trust you at first – and I still don't." He paused, and his eyes flickered with what appeared to be genuine emotion. When he spoke again he did so quickly, and Tony could hear the constriction in his throat. "I do love you, Tony. It was not to flatter and manipulate you, please know that. I truly respect and cherish you."

For a moment Tony was stunned into silence by the sentiment and the choice of words, but this soon passed. "_Very poetic_ – a few seconds ago, you said you would destroy me."

Loki smiled weakly. "Sentiment is a terrible weakness; I would not let it stop me. But if I had to fight you again, it _would_ make me profoundly sad. Afterwards." After a pause he added, "It matters not. We belong together, as allies."

Tony got up and paced up and down the room for a few moments, trying to think.

Finally, he turned to Loki. "If you want us to be on the same side, Loki, then you're coming over to my side. I won't come over to yours. Not ever."

Loki nodded thoughtfully. "It is not a matter of _sides_ for me, you understand. It never has been, it never will be. I want what I want, and that may or may not coincide with what you want. I change sides all the time; it's in my nature. I expect it to be variable."

"Variable..." Tony shook his head. "Answer me one question," he said steadily. "How can I ever trust you, ever again?"

Loki leaned forward. "You can trust me to do everything in my power to avoid harming you – unless I have no choice. You can trust that..." he paused. "You can trust that I do love you." Loki swallowed hard and stared down at the floor. "Why would I lie about that now?" Loki added, emotion rising in his voice. "It serves no other purpose, anymore. It can only be true."

"Almost convincing," Tony replied, bitterly. "What about Thor? Do you love him?"

Loki fidgeted nervously, clenching his hands together. "Of course."

"Yeah, well, you tried to kill him twice, both times when you didn't really have any particular reason to. And he's your _brother_." Tony continued his pacing, trying to relieve some of the tension, and went on, "So I hope you'll forgive me if I'm just a little sceptical about your supposed devotion to me, who you've known less than four weeks."

"That is all in the past!" Loki retorted. "It doesn't have to be that way, in the future."

"You're telling me _you can change_?" Tony span around, and shouted to Loki.

"Well not if no one gives me a _chance_!" He replied, standing, reaching Tony in a few long strides and holding him firmly by the shoulders.

Tony met his eyes, seeing clearly on Loki's face all his unreconcilable feelings of betrayal, of being different and isolated from everyone around him. Tony couldn't help but feel for him. He clenched his jaw as he felt a surge of anger, towards Loki, towards himself for still empathising with Loki, still caring about this mercurial, dangerous, selfish, lying–

Tony lunged forward and grabbed him, planting a rough, aggressive kiss on his lips, bringing his hand up to his hair and taking a fistful of it, probably, hopefully, hurting Loki a little in the process.

He broke away to look at Loki, lips flushed pink where Tony had kissed him, his eyes uncertainly searching Tony's for the meaning of this, not that Tony knew what the hell the meaning was. Tony kissed him again and pushed him back onto the bed, crawling on top of him, pinning him down and assaulting his lips again, taking Loki's lower lip into his mouth and biting on it hard. Sounds of pleasure escaped Loki as Tony parted his legs with one of his, and pressed himself down against Loki's body. Tony broke away from Loki's mouth to move down to his ear, biting him again and rutting against Loki, consumed with a base, aggressive, almost atavistic sort of lust.

_This_ was when they were at their best together, Tony thought, when they were in the throes of desire of a physical, sexual nature. This he understood, this was simple, this was their relationship. Loki capitulated completely, pulling at Tony's hair, and biting at his ear, behaving in a similarly primitive, desperate way – right up until the moment he managed to gasp, "I love you."

Tony paused in his movements and raised himself up on his arms above Loki, looking down at the god, face flushed, breathing hard.

Tony replied, "You're really just _intense_, aren't you?" Loki blinked. Tony went on, "You can't just say, yeah, the two of us have a rapport going on, personally and sexually. That's cool, if you're in town again, maybe we could hook up. You have to talk about love and the future and... you just take everything to the extreme _all the time_. You need to relax."

"Relax?" Loki let his head fall back against the bed. "I do not do things by half measures, Tony. That's not who I am."

"Yeah, well, _your mortal pet_ is not who I am." Tony pulled away from him and moved to sit down, crossing one leg over the other.

Loki appeared exasperated and hauled himself to a sitting position. "That has never been who you are to me. I do regard you as my equal. I do not think you understand..." he trailed off.

"Understand what?"

"I don't think you understand how long I have waited to be with someone whom I may regard as an equal and may... reciprocate."

Tony turned to face him. "I'm not sure that I can reciprocate."

Loki looked at him thoughtfully. "Perhaps not in precisely the same way."

There was a long silence – Tony didn't even know how long it was, how long they sat there, facing each other, looking at each other occasionally, glancing away, thinking. He had never met anyone like Loki, and, apparently, Loki had never met anyone like him. Tony knew, of course, that he was pretty awesome, but to be regarded as unique and important by someone who had lived a thousand years in a civilisation full of remarkable people... that was really something - _if it was true_.

Finally, Tony sighed and leaned forward, extending a hand to Loki. Loki did the same, gathering both of Tony's hands in his own, looking at him intently. Tony thought carefully about how he was to phrase this. "Loki... these past few weeks have been incredible. Fascinating, exciting – and I don't regret it. But I think it has to end."

Loki dropped his gaze to the floor. "Do you still want me to go back to Asgard?"

Tony shrugged. "You have to go. Odin needs Thor – he needed Thor two days ago. You can't stay."

"That is not what I asked you."

Tony took a deep breath and finally answered, "No."

Loki broke into a smile. "I don't want to go," he said, apparently relieved. "But I know that I must. Next time something happens, next time the Avengers need Thor, I hope that I will come back here with him. And not in chains. As his ally, his equal."

"His brother," Tony added.

Loki took in a sharp breath, something he probably could not help doing, though he did not confirm or agree with what Tony had said. He stood and gently encouraged Tony to stand with him. Tony did so, wordlessly stepping forward to wrap his arms around Loki and hold him. Tony would never have imagined himself hugging Loki like this, and for such a long time, but by this point he was surrendering to his own emotions. Tony closed his eyes and let Loki hold him, as well.

* * *

It was bitterly cold, as it always was this high up, on the roof, the December air as sharp and piercing as ice. Darkness had almost completely fallen, as it did so early in the evening.

There was a glow of golden light, and Tony saw that Loki was wearing his coat and scarf again, though he was already shrugging the coat off himself. "Loki, I'm fine..." Tony insisted, his breath misting in the air. But Loki said nothing, simply getting Tony to put the coat on, followed by the black, grey and green scarf, with all of its softness and familiarity of scent. "Don't you need it?" Tony asked.

"No," Loki said softly, shaking his head.

Thor explained that he had already bid farewell to Jane, and that he and Loki must now return to Asgard. Loki could return them to Midgard at any time, but that may not be possible, depending on what else was going on in the nine realms.

"And you're sure I can't come?" Tony asked, his tone joking, but actually thinking that he _could_ go; he could do with a break from this place...

Thor shook his head and explained that Loki may not have enough power for that, even if the All-father had not expressly forbidden it.

For all this time, Loki didn't say anything. He was just stood there, looking at Tony, unsure as to how to proceed, unsure where they stood with each other. Tony faced him, his arms falling to his sides, hoping, in his subconscious, that he would not be required to make a more blatant invitation than that.

Loki approached and embraced him again. There was a fleeting moment of uncertainty before Loki kissed him, tenderly. Loki could be tender, when it suited him, or perhaps when he really did care – Tony just wasn't sure. Perhaps it didn't matter, after all. He and Loki had had this time together, at least...

Loki embraced him again. "I love you," Loki whispered in his ear, holding Tony tightly. Loki pulled back and looked into Tony's eyes. Tony fought with himself, with the indecision of whether to say the same thing back, he had said it two days ago– Loki closed his eyes and let his head fall in disappointment, and when he raised it again to look at Tony, a couple of tears fell from his eyes.

Tony felt a lump in his throat, the need to make this easier somehow. "Loki, I'm really going to miss you, okay." Tony assured him, his voice breaking a little on the final word. Loki nodded, his mouth a thin line, another tear falling.

Loki made to let go, to step away, but Tony pulled him in for one final kiss, one final moment together, feeling Loki's lips against his, kissing him back in one last exchange of affection, one last moment of intimacy, trying to say, through that, what he could not bring himself to speak aloud.

But then it was over, and Tony and Loki let go of each other. Loki stepped back, back away from him, not quite looking at him. Tony thought of running to Loki, telling Loki he loved him, but he had never said it like this. He had only said it in the heat of the moment and he couldn't work out whether he had meant it then or whether he would mean it now if he were to say it.

Perhaps by his actions, Tony reasoned, he had expressed it. After Tony's fury with Loki earlier in the day, the way that Tony had behaved since would only be possible if he truly cared for the God of Mischief. Loki would surely understand that, wouldn't he?

Loki then stood in front of Thor and embraced him, pulling him close, hiding behind him so Tony had no idea of the expression on his face.

Thor looked at Tony with an expression of so many things – understanding, sympathy, regret. "Farewell, Tony," Thor said, and it was all Tony could do to nod.

It evidently took Loki a moment to generate enough power to make the journey; a cloud of golden light appearing around the two of them, some kind of static electricity building in the air. As Thor wrapped his arms around his brother, Tony stepped a little further away, watching all the while, holding Loki's coat closed and wrapped tight around himself. He felt an acute sense of panic, his heart racing, his lungs struggling to accept the icy cold air as breath. Loki was really going, this was it, it was too late to do anything about it now–

There was a flash of light, a snap of breaking static tension, a whoosh upwards in which Thor and Loki disappeared and a shockwave which sent icy winter air rushing away in all directions. The wind whipped around Tony, pushing him, tugging at his coat, and then, just like that, he was alone on the desolate roof, Loki and Thor gone.

Tony looked up into the night sky, seeing nothing there but patches of clouds, scant stars visible through them. Directions like _up_ were probably meaningless here, but Tony looked up anyway, staring as if he could see out through the cosmos to where Loki was, to Asgard, to where the gods lived.

But Loki was gone.

As Tony stood there, alone, gazing up into the heavens, he said, "I love you."

* * *

The End


End file.
